Connie's Appalachian Hike

Pinal City Hike

2012-01-25T22:07:00.003-07:00

I know, I haven't blogged about a hike in awhile. But, Tuesday, we went on an interesting enough hike that I thought I'd share.

We went to an abandoned mining town called Pinal City or, back in the day, Picket Post, for the mountain jutting up out of the desert floor about 1/2 mile away. It's just .7 miles west of the mining town Superior. It seems Picket Post was established to mine silver and the vein ran out just a few years after the towns establishment. The whole place up and moved east to Superior when the silver ran out and copper was found in Superior. All that's left now are the ruts in what must be incredibly soft rock, about 2-3 inches deep. The mules pulled the mine carts across the desert floor from the mines to the smelters and dug the ruts in just a handful of years time.

We hiked then to the abandoned smelter site, just iron pegs sticking up out of the bedrock, yes, the same soft stone the ruts were dug in, that held the smelters in place. There must have been some sort of building there as we found the remains of the foundation.

After that, we hiked along a road passable by a high clearance vehicle across the Queen Creek, running with water this time of year, to what seems to be an Apache hunting camp, up in the cliff walls. There are only two remaining "rooms" but there were what seemed to be post holes, perhaps for a built lean-to against the cliff face. There were matates in the northern room outer wall. The whole thing seemed too small, what with only two rooms to be a permanent habitation despite the really lovely Queen Creek and it's cottonwood shade and flowing water.

After the ruins, we hiked to a location where we could dig Apache Tears (a form of obsidian) from a low, chalk-like cliff wall. Most of us could just sit in the scree field and moving the remains from side to side, find an nice number of the stones without any digging at all. When we got tired of that or found enough of the stones to suit us, we stopped and gazing at the opposing scenic cliffs, had a very nice picnic lunch.

It being after noon, we got everyone together and hiked back to the cars. Overall, we all felt that the 4 hour round trip drive was worth the trip.

Canyon De Chelly

2011-07-13T14:39:00.013-07:00

Well, I haven't posted since our trip to Bryce Canyon. In June we went to Canyon DeChelly (pronounced De Shay) but only stayed one night.

We drove up from Payson (it's north and east of us) and really enjoyed the wide open spaces of Arizona that you see once you get near to Winslow. We stopped for lunch there at the historic La Posada Hotel. This was the last operating Harvey House. The train still runs by the back door. Lunch was marvelous. The menu is a nice selection of salads, sandwiches, etc., all food organic or locally grown or both. Yummy!

The country north of Winslow is wide open! You can see the San Fransico peaks to the southwest from miles northeast of Winslow. We could also see the smoke in the sky in the east from the (then burning) Willow fire.

It was windy the day we drove up and by the time we got to Chinle, the wind was really blowing hard. It was blowing the sand across the road in such a way I felt like I was in some old western. Chinle itself is kind of bleak. The desert just feels like it comes right into town. Also, the town is "free range". For my friends back east, that means stock (horses, cattle, etc.) can freely range thru town. We saw horses grazing in the median as we headed to the canyon.

Before entering the National Park, we stopped at the Ranger Station/Welcome Center. There we saw info for a "free" camp ground, located on the park property within a stone's throw of the welcome center. I'll talk more about this at the end of this blog.

We then headed for our private campground. This National Park is a little different from your run of the mill National Park. Here, the local native Navajo are allowed to live and own property within the park. Our campground was one of these places. The site is on the south side of the canyon and we found it with very little trouble. The problem was that the owner was out with a tour group acting as guide.

An aside here too! You cannot, with one exception, travel down into the canyon by yourself. You must have a native Navajo guide take you. This can be a horse ride, jeep tour or something else, but you must have a guide.

So, since we had to wait for him to get back to show us where our site was, we decided to see some of the overlook points on the south side of the canyon. We visited 2, west of our camp site, then headed back to the camp site. We waited around for over 1/2 an hour, the decided to look at some of the other overlooks while we waited.

All of these overlooks have fantastic views of the canyon floor. In many locations you can see the abandoned cliff dwellings of "The Old Ones". You can also see the hogans of the Navajo families that still live, farm and herd, on the canyon floor. A little after 6pm we went back to the camp site and Randy met with the owner. By now, the wind was whipping so hard that we decided to rent one of the hogans the owner has built on the camp site. After looking at a couple of them, Randy rented us a medium sized hogan for one night.

We only unloaded what we needed for the night. Our air mattresses seemed necessary as the dried dirt from the roof sifted down inside making everything very dusty. So, we put down air mattresses and our sleeping bags on top. It was nice to get out of the wind!

The hogan provided a decent wind break and I cooked our supper on the camp stove. Still windy, dinner cooled on our plates before we could eat it. However, by the time I got dinner cleaned up, it was sun down and we felt comfortable building a small camp fire in the chimnea provided.

As we settled in to relax and watch the fire, the camp site dog showed up. Being a dog, he sniffed around for left overs. I did have some from supper but all packed up. If he had come 15 minutes earlier, he would have had some! Anyway, not finding anything to eat, he decided to settle down at my feet and enjoy the fire. He was friendly and well behaved and I would have petted him but he was the filthiest dog I have ever seen! Now, water is scarce in this part of the world, it's trucked in and put in cisterns so I suspect the Navajo don't feel that dog washing is an appropriate use of water.

Anyway, we enjoyed the company and the fire and when we'd had enough and the fire had burnt down, we packed it in and went to bed. The dog obligingly went away! The hogan had been thoughtfully provided with an oil lamp so Randy lit the lamp and we had plenty of light to read by.

The next morning we were up fairly early, ate our cereal and bananas and packed everything up. We were at the overlook location where we can hike down into the canyon by ourselves by 8am and on the trail by 8:10am. This trail, the White House trail, is the exception to the rule of needing a guide. The trail down the canyon wall is not too steep and switchbacks back and forth across the canyon wall.

Once down at the bottom, it goes thru a short tunnel before you come out onto the canyon floor, right in front of a farm complete with hogan. The trail takes you to the left, and across the creek that runs thru the canyon. It's only a short way to the pueblo ruins. Here, like at most of the overlooks, you run a gauntlet of locals selling carved sandstone (we actually bought some the previous day), beaded jewelry, and other such trinkets as the Navajo sell to make ends meet. I have to say, for the most part, this is all lovely work and I wish I could afford to purchase more of it.

Anyway, we politely declined their offers to look at their wares and proceeded on to the ruins. You can only view them from afar and behind a big wire fence. I brought binoculars with me and could see why the ruins had been fenced off. They were covered with graffiti. Anyway, we stayed long enough to get a good look through the binoculars and Randy's camera and for Randy to get a lot of pictures. Then it was time to hike back up.

Again, it didn't take any time to cross the canyon floor to the trail going up. Then, I took my time. It was hot, the trail mostly in the sun, and going up seems so much steeper than when you go down. Anyway, taking my time, we were still back up at the parking area by 9:15am. We chatted briefly with a couple about to descend. They asked how long it took and I told them we took our time and were still back up at the parking lot in an hour. They were satisfied with that answer and we all said goodbye.

So, the major trip attraction behind us, we decided to see the other viewpoints. We went to the farthest eastern point overlook, called the Spider Rock point. This may be the 2nd best spot on the canyon. While you don't get to go down into the canyon, this is a lovely trail along the canyon rim allowing really good views of Spider Rock, one of the more famous points in the canyon after the White House ruins. Of course Randy got a lot of pictures.

Then we went on to the other south rim viewpoints we had not seen the day before and then went to the North Rim. There are 3 viewpoints on the North Rim and we started with the nearest. The last one was the best, I think, on the North Rim. A very sad story about the Spanish massacaring women and children who had climbed as far up the cliff wall as they could to get away from the Spanish soldiers was posted on a story sign. There was also along a side trail, marvelous views of the canyon in the other direction.

At all of these viewpoints were signs that told us to mind our children and pets, the canyon floor was 700 feet below! Many viewpoints had no fences, you had to use common sense to not fall off the edge!

We finished the last viewpoint about 11am. We took that opportunity to make a sandwich each and eat it. Then, having completed all of the fun that could be had for no money, we decided to go home. On the way out, I asked Randy to turn into the campground we saw at the entrance. Sure enough, there was no one at the camp ground gate. You really could stay free. It was a nice campground too! Lots of trees, nice bathrooms and shower facilities and just outside the gate, the Trading Post inn and restaurant. My personal recommendation is to stay at this campground then if it's full, the camp site we used.

Anyway, we were home by dinner time and glad to be out of the wind. I recommend this trip to anyone. I'm sure we would have enjoyed taking a guided hike, horse ride or jeep ride to some of the other points on the canyon floor and getting the benefit of the guide's stories about the canyon but, when on a budget, enjoy what you can!

Bryce Canyon Trip

2011-05-21T13:10:00.056-07:00

Randy and I went to Bryce Canyon May 10th and came home on May 13th. We figured a mid-week trip and the 2nd week of May to boot, would mean fewer people at the canyon.

We finished packing up the car Tuesday morning and hit the road about 7:30am. We took Route 87 north up to Lake Mary Rd to Flagstaff. From there, we took Rt 89 past Page AZ and on toward Kanab. However, once in Utah, we stopped at a ranger station for a rest break and to pick up a free map of Utah. We had a nice chat with the Ranger and just before we left, he asked what we were driving. When we answered with a 4 wheel drive Jeep, he suggested we take a dirt road north, cutting many miles off of our drive and enabling us to see some of the southern part of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. We said, heck yeah, we can do that.

We continued up Rt 89 for a few more miles and took the road the ranger suggested. As promised, it was dirt, and was called Cottonwood Rd as it goes thru Cottonwood Canyon. The begining of the road had warnings about needing a high clearance vehicle and not to use the road if it's been raining. It had been dry all day tho the sky was clouding up with the threat of rain. (20% chance was the forcast, but in my experience, 20% almost always means it will actually rain.)

It was a great ride. The road went pretty much north, following the Veria River. The canyon is home to a lot of cows and we had to keep a careful eye out when coming around a corner as there were cows and their calves usually standing in the middle of the road.

The scenery was great and an excellent prelude for the rest of our trip. We had to stop to take pictures several times. At the northern end of the road, there were trailheads for hiking. We got off the dirt road just about the time the rain started sprinkling down. The road goes almost directly to Cannonville UT, where our KOA campground was located. We didn't have any trouble at all finding it.

So, we signed in and hurried to the campsite. We quickly unloaded just what we needed to; tent, tools, etc., and set the tent up as fast as we could. It was lightly raining by now and of course, the tent and tarp under pad was damp but we got it all set up and managed to get the air mattresses blown up without getting them too wet.

At that point, it was raining. This KOA has a Kitchen Pavilion with stove top and running water, what a luxury. However, rather than trying to cook dinner there, we just went to dinner in the nearby town of Tropic. We had a nice meal and went back to the tent. We hooked up a light (the KOA has electric available at most sites) and read while the rain pattered on the tent.

Of course it rained on and off all night, the last rain happening about 5:30am. So
when we got up about 6am, everything was wet but the sky was clearing and we were anticipating a nice day for going to Bryce Canyon. So, we had a quick, cold cereal and banana breakfast, did up the few breakfast dishes (the kitchen pavilion has a dishwashing spot too!) and hit the road for Bryce about 7:30am.

On the way to Bryce (about 13 miles or so from the KOA) we saw a pull off for a short hike 1/3 mile or so, to a Mossy Cave and waterfall. It turns out that the Paria River, running thru the Bryce Valley, didn't run all year. The Mormon settlers in the valley at Tropic and Cannonville, found it difficult to ranch without a steady supply of water. So, in 1889, they decided to dig a canal and bring water to the valley from the east fork of the Sevier River. It took 2 years but the clever fellows dug out the Tropic Ditch, using existing water courses where available. The water still flows year round and leads to the Paria River watercourse thru the Bryce Valley.

Anyway, the early morning sun was hitting the hoodoos of this little canyon making a marvelous picture. We climbed up the trail along the ditch and took a look at the little man made water fall. Then hiked to the little mossy cave as well. By the time we got back to the car, the clouds were rolling in. Now it was still cold, about 45 - 50 degrees or so. We were dressed in pants, t-shirts and sweatshirts, I had on my fleece jacket.

We headed on to Bryce Canyon, going thru the new town of Bryce Canyon City. A tourist city only, it caters to visitors to the canyon. It has hotels, a couple of places to eat, gas stations, horse rides, a daily rodeo, ATV rides, etc.. Anyway, we got to the park gate and picked up our phamplet, which had maps of the canyon, suggested hikes, and other information. It said it is best to go to the southern end of the canyon then, stop at the viewpoints on the way back. Good advice, so we drove the 18 miles to the end, Rainbow Point.

Once there, it started snowing. Rainbow Point is the highest point in the canyon at
9115 feet. There was still snow on the ground from the winter and now it was overcast, foggy and snowing! There were quite a few people at this point and we all enjoyed the view, at least what we could see of it. At one end of the viewing area, someone with a sense of humor made 2 tiny snowmen.

We went back to the car, and went to the next viewpoint, Black Birch Canyon. Again, very limited viewing, and we were getting cold. The next point and the 4th one were the same. It's still snowing, we're not dressed for winter weather and we really can't see much. However, what we can see is pretty dramatic and with a covering of snow, pretty photogenic. We decided to pack it in and do something else.

We went back to the campsite and put away some things we had left out and packed ourselves a lunch. At 11am, we left the campground and headed east on Rt 12. Utah's Rt 12 is a national scenic byway and several people had told us that we should drive it. So, we started east and I want to say, it is one of the most beautiful drives we have ever taken. It goes thru the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and we had to stop every few miles to take pictures.

In the town of Escalante, we stopped at the Ranger office and Visitor Center and got some advice about heading to the town of Boulder to see the indian ruins. That we did. Along the way, we had to keep stopping to take pictures because it was just one fantastic view after another. A little way before Boulder, we stopped at a viewpoint looking out from the top of the mesa into the valley where Boulder sits. The signage mentioned the road we were about to drive on. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, it's called the Million Dollar road. It's winding, steep and goes across a hogback, a bit of land that's only just a little wider than the road. A little scary but perfectly safe.

Once in Boulder, we found the Anasazi State Park, right in town! It cost $5 each to get in so we did. There is a small museum, describing the ancient people of the area and how they lived. Then outside, there is a reconstruction of an adobe house and then the actual excavated prehistoric village. We spent about an hour there, looking at the village and the museum. After that, we headed back to the camp ground.

Fortunately, it had stopped raining by the time we got back to the campground but it was windy. I took advantage of the shower facilities and back at the tent, tried to read. However, the wind just kept blowing more and more hard. Finally, I took the laptop and got in the car to get out of the wind. I used the campground WIFI signal to make a brief facebook post. At that point the wind was blowing so hard that the side of the tent facing the wind was being pushed right in. I was hoping that with sunset the wind would die down. Fortunately it did so I managed to cook supper, get the dishes done and we could sit and enjoy our little campfire.

We didn't stay out there too late, we had gotten up early and it was cold out. So, once the fire died to a few coals, we went to bed. The next morning (Thursday) it was about 32 or 33 degrees. We knew that because there was a light frost on everything. However, it was clear so we decided to try the canyon again. What a difference a day makes. Again, we started at the southern end of the park and the views were fantastic. We could see forever! Every viewpoint was extraordinary.

Finally, we got to Sunrise Point and parked the car. We had brought along the cooler so we could make lunch (sandwiches). Once that was done, we broke out our hiking poles and headed for what the park brochure called the World's Best 3 mile
hike. This is the Queen's Garden and Navajo Loop trail. It started on the rim, drops down into the canyon bottom then climbs back out on the Navajo loop trail via a slot canyon called Wall Street.

The trail goes down into the canyon past hundreds of hoodoos. It's nice to get up closer to them by hiking into the canyon. Once down at the bottom, the trail runs thru a ponderosa pine wood and then connects to the Navajo loop trail. Once we got the the Wall Street trail, we were into the slot canyon. Due to the rain the day before, the trail was all wet, sticky, slippery clay. It's also steep, zigzagging back and forth across the canyon. Finally, we emerged at Sunset Point. From there we took the Rim Trail (paved and handicapped accessible) along the rim edge back to Sunrise Point. I think it is one of the greatest 3 mile hikes!

By now, it was 3:30pm and we decided to call it a day, but not before we hit the gift shops. I found a t-shirt for me and one for Betty and a coffee mug and souvenier spoon to boot. Then we headed back to the campsite. After a shower and a bit of reading, I got supper cooked and cleaned up. We had a final campfire before hitting the sleeping bags about 9pm.

Up early the next day, we packed up the car and headed west on Rt 12 and had breakfast at the hotel restaurant in Bryce Canyon City. Finally on our way, this part of Rt 12 is also beautiful. In Red Canyon, we had to stop and set up a picture of me driving the car thru an archway cut thru the rock for the road. There were lots of lovely little towns along the way to Rt 89. Good thing I hadn't visited Utah before AZ, we might have moved there!

We took Rt 89 south thru Kanab and at Fredonia, took Rt89A east. Lovely views of the Vermillion Cliffs. About noon, we stopped in Gap, a little north of Flagstaff. Randy parked under the only tree around and we made sandwiches. We went into the little trading post there, looked around and bought some snacks. Then headed on home.

Randy took over 500 pictures and it took him 2 days to go thru them all. He didn't keep all of them of course, he got rid of the bad ones and the duplicates. If you're planning a trip, consider Bryce Canyon. You won't be disappointed.

Picacho Peak

2011-03-28T13:19:00.022-07:00

So, Randy and I had not been camping since Aug 2009 and we thought it was about time. It was also Elizabeth's college spring break. Therefore, Randy took a look at the AZ map and found a state park halfway between Phoenix and Tucson. No reservations required this time of year. On Thursday, we packed up the jeep and the 3 of us and Phoebe the dog, took off for a couple of nights camping!

About 1130 we stopped at the Casa Grande National Monument. Randy and I had been there before but Elizabeth hadn't. It was ok to bring the dog in too! We walked
around the site, reading the plaques telling us about the life and times of the natives (Hohokum) who lived there and about the building techniques. The largest remaining building is covered by a huge cover to help keep the weather from
destroying it any further. After a walk around the site, we adjourned to the picnic area for some sandwiches we brought with us. Then we walked to the raised observation area for a look at 3 other sites on the park property. One is considered a ball field and 2 others are apparently other housing areas, just not yet excavated.

After we finished there, we got back in the car and within the hour were at the Picacho State Park. Picacho is pronounced Pee-CA-Choo, emphasis on the second syllable. We found ourselves a tenting spot large enough to hold both tents and which also had a ramada (southwest term for a shelter or canopy over the picnic
table). We decided to set up camp, then just hang out. The mountain we were going to climb the next day loomed over the south side of the park and our campsite. No getting around it, it looked like a hard climb.

So after dinner, and the sun went down, we got a campfire going. We were just sitting around, chit chatting, when we heard the gravel crunching behind us. Turns out 2 long distance bicyclists, rode up behind us and asked if they could share the
fire with us! Now having hung out with long distance hikers, we were a little surprised by the request but not really disturbed. We said heck yeah, come on in and have a sit.

We shared some wine and the camp fire and stories about where we've all been in the world. It was a nice chat. At bedtime, we retired to our tents and they bedded down in front of the fire.

In the morning, Randy and I were up early to meet our old AF buddy Dennis. He drove up from Tucson to hike a little way with us. Turns out he had hiked this mountain in his youth with his church youth group, long before there was a state park here or even a designated trail up to the peak. The bicyclists got up, had a little
breakfast and packed up to get back on the road. About 8am, they rode off and we got in the car to head to the trailhead.

We parked at the trailhead, Dennis too as he had an 11am appointment back in Tucson so he staged his car with ours for easy access. I was carrying my 2 liter water bladder and 2 one liter water bottles. Randy and Elizabeth were each carrying about 1.5 liters of water. Elizabeth had room in her pack to carry Phoebe up the hard parts of the trail. Off we went.

The hike immediately starts uphill. The trail maintainers had put in steps but made them about twice the height of normal steps, making it kind of hard on stubby legged little me. We gained altitude quickly and soon we were high above the desert
floor. By 9am, Dennis had to say good-bye, he had to hike back to the cars and get on his way. Sorry he couldn't do the whole trip with us.

After the good-bye's we trudged on up the mountain. The trail did switch back and forth but even so, it was a climb. We took a short rest now and then, one stop being in an alcove of sorts where birds, swifts or some other mud dauber mud nest
makers, had nests high up on the underside of the cliff alcove. They swooped around over us like they were unhappy with our presence.

Finally, we got to the saddle. The part of the mountain where the trail reaches a spot then curves around the other side of the mountain, going down for a bit, then up to the secondary and main peaks. Quite a few people were there, resting from coming up from the park or from coming back from the peak. After a short rest, we
continued, following the trail down a very steep rock face. It was steep enough that the maintainers had put in the steel cable rope and I sure did use it getting down that slope. A few hundered feet down, then we started back up the mountain.

Again, all uphill, Elizabeth and I stopped several times for quick breathers and some water. Eventually, we got to the difficult portions, going straight up rock faces with random places for footholds and death grips on steel cable. Of course,
it was easy for Phoebe, she just rode in Elizabeth's pack. She seemed quite content to let her mistress do all the work.

Now I have a bit of a fear of falling so going up or across these spots was a bit traumatic for me. I will admit to a lot of hyperventilation. However, I watched other groups go up or down these spots and saw they didn't seem to have any trouble with it. So I told myself to stop being such a drama queen and get on with it.

Elizabeth had gotten quite a bit ahead of us while I was struggling with my fear and
those cliff face traverses. She went up the secondary peak to explore a little while we caught up. Eventually, I got past the cables and we started up the main peak. It wasn't that far, it was just pretty steep and by the time I got to the
top, I was happy but really tired. I declared I wasn't moving from this spot. Randy and Elizabeth kindly offered to forward my mail.

While resting, we noticed a lot of ground squirrels at the top of the peak. Phoebe was eager to run the little critters off. At one point, it looked like she was going to launch herself right off the top of the peak. At that time, Elizabeth put her leash on her. It just wouldn't do to have hikers below us see a chihuahua flying past.

We had a snack and a lot of water and a good look around at the views. Lots of agriculture going on in the surrounding landscape. Also, a lot more smog than I had
expected. It's too bad really because we should have been able to see a lot farther than we did. After about 20 minutes, we decided to go on back down. Of course every group we passed had to ooh and ahh over Phoebe. She was quite a good little conversation starter.

As I expected, the hike down was more harrowing than the hike up, especially as we were already tired. I was still hyperventilating but at each point I told myself
that I did not want to be on the 6 o'clock news as "another hiker rescued" story so I bucked up and did what I had to do to get down. We often had to move over for faster hikers to go by. Not that I minded, it gave me a minute to get my breath but it was irritating to see 20 something young men go dancing by, leaping from rock to rock carrying nothing but a half liter bottle of water. Arrrgghh.

So, we finally get to the steep rock face that leads up to the saddle that will lead to the final down trail. I couldn't believe we had to climb this mountain 3 times to do one hike up to the peak and back. I had to stop and rest several times, but finally I got to the saddle and practically fell onto the bench so thoughtfully provided by the park service. We still needed to get the rest of the way down but thankfully, there were no more ups.

We pushed on after a few minutes and both Elizabeth and I could feel our legs getting really tired. We were glad when we finally got to the trailhead and could sit in the car. Whew! We made it. We were ready to get back to the tent and head off to the really nice showers this campsite has.

Would I do this hike again? No. However, Randy said he had a great time, never a dull moment on this trail. True, but it's not for me. At one point, I mentioned to Randy that I would only recommend this hike to people I hate but that's not really so. I know quite a few hiking friends who would, like Randy, love the adventure of this hike. This hike was rated difficult. I don't know where that rating fits in the Easy, Moderate, Strenuous rating system but it must be above Strenuous.

So, if you're out Arizona way, think about this peak.

Barnhardt Trail

2011-03-27T11:59:00.007-07:00

On March 22nd, the C Group of the Payson Packers met in the Stages parking lot at about 0815. It had rained all of the previous day so our planned hikes were under discussion. The original plan was for the group to split up. Those that wanted the more strenuous Barnhardt Trail hike were going there and the rest of the group were going to one of the Payson Area Trail System (PATS) hikes, the Monument Peak loop hike.

Since the heavy rain would make these trail somewhat muddy and/or treacherous, the majority of the group (15 or so), elected to take a fitness trail hike at the local community college. Six of us however, decided to risk the Barnhardt trail. Bonnie, the hike leader for the original hike, could fit all six of us into her truck, a nice 3 seater, 4 wheel drive. Off we went.

My hiking book, Hiking Arizona, (page 100), gives a description of the total 12.4 mile hike. We were only going to point 3, what we called the 2nd waterfall. So, the book gives the starting elevation at 4200 feet. Using one of our member's in-phone GPS, we had about a 1500 ft elevation gain at the peak of our hike.

Anyway, we managed to get to the trailhead from a very slick, gooey, muddy dirt
road, about 4 miles from Highway 87. There are 3 trailheads at this point with a lot of parking. A very popular place. We headed into the canyon mouth, always going up. Fortunately, the trail switchbacks back and forth but not at a particularly steep grade in most places.

Along the way, you can see on the opposite canyon wall the severe geological
stresses this mountain range was subject to. White quartz layered between red rock zigzags up and down the cliff face. Pretty dramatic. Far below, the stream was running well. What with all the rain from the day before, we were not surprised to see the water flowing. I suspect by late June, the stream bed may be dry.

There weren't a lot of flowers along the path, I had expected to see quite a few given the recent snow and rainfall and the warm weather this far south. Oh well.
We met a few people on the trail, some stopped at view points where we could see the Moggollon Rim, covered with snow from yesterday's snowfall (while we got rain in Payson, just an hour north, the higher elevation of the rim, gave that area snow!) It was all very, very pretty! I noted as the sun came out from behind the remaining clouds, that the water and trees had diamond drops scattered on tips of blades and branches. The whole place sparkled.

At about mile 2.5, we came to the first waterfall. Bonnie had described it a a sort of cathedral space with this plume of water coming down the high cliff face.
Once we got there, I totally agreed with her discription. Additionally a large pine tree stood right in the center, just in front of the cliff face. The little stream that was generated, ran across the trail and down to the main stream running out of the canyon.

At this waterfall, we met a group of 3 that had just come from farther up the trail where they described a second waterfall. We decided to have our snack break then rested, voted to go on up the trail to see this next waterfall. They described it as about 1/2 an hour or 45 minutes farther on. On we went. This part of the trail was steeper and rockier than the 1st part but we pushed on and sure enough, in about 30 minutes we were at the 2nd waterfall.

This waterfall is recessed into a chasm but can clearly be seen from the trail. It was a feather plume of water, falling from a high cliff, then running down the narrow canyon over several little rock steps till it crossed the trail. This part of the canyon still had snow cover and a lot of shade so it was a little chilly in there. While we were taking pictures, a couple of guys arrived so of course there were greetings and discussions of how nice this spot is.

We left them having a lunch break a few feet up the trail where there was some sun while we headed back down the canyon.
We took a short break at the 1st waterfall, where Randy took some pictures of the small, moss covered pools. We all kept remarking on how nice the temperature was for the hike, not too cool, not too hot and the marvelous views we had of the rim.

Overall, the trail was not treacherous at all and we were glad we took the risk to come to the trail.

Jasper South and Spanish Ruins Hikes

2011-01-22T14:46:00.009-07:00

Our regular Tuesday hike on the 18th took us to the trail the club calls Jasper South. It's south on Rt 87. We go south, then a few miles past Rye, then cross to the northbound lanes and head north again. It's a small dirt road leading to a fair sized parking lot.

We had about 25 people in the group. As usual, we followed the dirt track out into the desert. As promised, lots of red jasper just laying all about. So much, that Randy was able to pick and choose the nicest pieces he found.

Anyway, we walked out about 2.6 miles and along the way passed a small handful of cattle, watching us from a short distance. They didn't like the fact that we were there. They were quite wary. When a few of our members tried to take their pictures, they turned tail and ran away. Better than running toward us I guess. We stopped at a high point with a very nice view of a valley and the mountains in the distance for our turn around break.

I'll have to say, the weather was perfect. We were down to our T-Shirts, enjoying the bright day.

The hike back was uneventful, returning the same way we had gone out.
We all had a nice bit of exercise and lovely chats with club members. What more could a person want?!

Then on Friday, Randy led Betty and I and Phoebe the 5 pound chihuahua on a hike up to the Spanish Ruins. Since none of us had any other appointments, it seemed a good day to get some hiking in.

We got to the Doll Baby Ranch trailhead about 10am. Of course parking was no problem, it's a nice large parking area and no one else was there.

We started out along the flat road enjoying the many trees along the way. A short way in, we were warmed up enough to take off the sweatshirts. Just after that, we saw two medium large dogs but no people. They checked us out from a distance and then turned around and disappeared around the bend in the trail. Betty put Phoebe
on her leash as we didn't want any trouble. However, we trekked on up the trail but never did see those dogs again. Eventually Betty took the leash off Phoebe so she could explore a little better. She also took Phoebe's dog sweater off. We figured that if we were warmed up, so was the little dog.

Anyway, for those that have been on this hike, you know it's pretty much uphill all the way to the top of the mesa. At one point, maybe a mile in, the road crosses a small stream that flows across the road. We took this opportunity to allow the dog to get a drink from a natural source. Even tho we spent a few minutes there and
she sniffed around quite a bit, she didn't drink from the stream. Maybe she wasn't thirsty, maybe the smell of untreated water was too strange, I don't know but eventually we moved on up the hill.

We got to the gate and went thru and turned left, headed for the mesa. The path here is kind of faint but we mananged OK till about 1/2 way up. Then, the path just kind of disappeared. Randy couldn't quite remember exactly the way to go so he went right and Betty and I went left. He ended up bushwhacking to the top. Betty and I found what I believe to be the path. However, it is a bit of a rock climb and I always get nervous about that. However, we all made it to the top of the mesa and Randy led us rightish, and we found the ruins.

Of course we explored them, took pictures of us all at the edge of the cliff and had a nice rest looking out over the valley of the Doll Baby Ranch. After we had our snack, Randy led us to the overhang where the matate's are dug into the rock.
We also climbed around the end of the cliff to a spot on the Doll Baby side of the mesa. There, a monarch butterfly came fluttering past and decided to rest on the
leg of Betty's jeans. Pretty cool.

Done with our exploring, we headed back down the mesa, only making a slight mistake on the path, having to bushwhack about 20 feet or so. The rest of the hike was pretty uneventful. Tried to get Phoebe to drink at the stream on the way out but again, she sniffed the water in several spots but decided not to drink. Oh well. We did have to carry her a couple of times on the way out. It was a pretty hard hike for a little dog and she appreciated the rides.

Again, a good day out!

Snowshoe Hike at Pine TrailHead

2011-01-05T10:03:00.003-07:00

So the normal C Group hike for Tuesday (the 4th) was cancelled due to extremely wet conditions. However, Randy and I wanted to get out and enjoy the snow so we headed north to Pine AZ. There is a really nice access road at the south end of town, called Pine Trailhead.

When we got there the access road was blocked with snow from the highway plowing but the right turn lane had been cleared. So, we just parked at the end of the access road at the top of the turn lane. We put on our snowshoes and packs and climbed up over the snow bank and headed down the access road. There were a lot of tracks of people and dogs on the access road. When we got to the parking area, we headed to
the Highline and Arizona Trail signs and the trail head for those trails. I signed in the trail register while Randy got a picture of the Highline trail sign.

We started into the woods and immediately noticed that there were hardly any tracks. From all of the tracks on the access road, really, a path had been worn into the snow, I expected to see lots of tracks on the trail. Must be people were just walking their dogs into the parking area and back out again.

Once into the woods, the trail takes a sharp left. However, straight ahead a couple hundred feet, I could see a fence, gate and signage. I'll let you know here, that at the end of the hike, before we went back out to the parking area, I trudged up to that signage. It's a sign and very nice gate, put up by the Mesa Boy Scouts. There is no signage about any trail that goes thru there. Its it possible that it used to be the AZ trail?

Anyway, we took the left and in about 50 or 100 feet there was trail signage pointing to the right for the AZ trail. This may be the "new"? AZ trail coming up from the south? We continued to follow the trail to the north, which is both the Highline trail and the AZ trail.

A short distance later, the trail takes a sharp turn to the right. This is where we took a picture with both of us. The sign here had a nice flat topped pole that Randy could put the camera on to take a pic of both of us. We continued on, following well placed trail signs. The day was perfect, a nice temp and beautiful sky. I had removed my fleece at the last picture point, already too warm for a fleece, I was comfortable with a wicking tee shirt and cotton henley.

The snow was soft and wet, making it a hard job to break trail. Randy took over as the lead trail breaker but even so, as the 2nd in line, there was still a lot of snow to pack down. We saw lots of animal tracks. A lot of rabbit, some very strange track of what looked like a leaping animal that landed making a mark with it's whole body. The landing spots were several feet apart and were old so finding a clear sharp track was difficult. Lots of small critters, squirrel, chipmunk or maybe even mice. Especially around oak scrub, there were a lot of tracks.

After about 50 minutes, we decided to take a break. We cleared a fallen tree trunk of snow and had a sit down break. Randy brought along a thermos of hot coffee. That really hits the spot on a cold hike. After our break, we headed back. Much easier now as we had already broken the trail and, we were headed downhill. We didn't realize that the entire way in had been a gentle uphill climb. It took us about 40 minutes to get back to the car.

We got the snowshoes off and back in the car then hit the Nifty 50 restaurant for a quick lunch and to say hi to my sister-in-law Betty. Then we went to Randy's brother's house (Pat) to say hi to him and leave the snowshoes for everyone to try out.

All in all, a great day out.

Roosevelt Lake View and more

2010-12-31T10:47:00.011-07:00

Well, It's been awhile since I posted. So many things to do! Anyway, this last Tuesday we headed south on Highway 87 and after some complicated manuvering to get on the northbound lane, we stopped at mile marker 231. High up on a hillside, we parked the cars and organized ourselves for the hike.

It was probably the best day of the week, sunshine and fairly warm temps. We hiked about a mile in, passing a lot of rocks and even a white quartz vein at the surface. There were a couple of steep spots with lots of loose rock but eventually we got to a hilltop with a great view of Roosevelt Lake in the distance.

This is where we stopped to have a snack. With the recent rains, there was quite a bit of grass (this is range land) and overall, a very pleasant spot with views all 360 degrees around us.

The hike back was a little more strenuous as we had to hike up the steep hills we had come down but it didn't take too much longer to go out than it had to hike in. A really nice day out!

On the 21st, we hiked to the Gisela Bridge. We drove out to Jake's Corners, on Rt 188, and opposite the general store, turned onto a dirt road. We went about 1/4 mile and parked in a pretty good sized parking area. From here we hiked along the forest road about 2 or 2.5 miles. All along the way were lots of nice rocks, and long views across the area to the surrounding mountains.

The hike in was uphill, but not steep, about 1/2 way to the bridge. Then downhill to the Tonto Creek and the bridge. Along the way were steep spots where people decided to dump thier trash. A shame really as this is a pretty area.

We took a break at the bridge, an iron structure, not too long.

Sand had blown into the supports over the years and under the bridge, there were several spots where cactus had sprouted and was growing in the supports.

This was a special hike because it was Randy's birthday.
He packed in some small cups and a bottle of champagne which he shared with the other 24 hikers on the trip. He also brought along a piece of cake and a candle. We sang happy birthday of course.

The hike out was uneventful, we of course collected a few rocks to add to our collection.

On the 14th, we again headed out to the Jake's Corner area. Just a mile or so past the store, we pulled off onto a forest road and parked. We hiked out along the road toward the Tonto Creek.
This was not a difficult hike and again, expansive views were available all along the way.

We reached a spot high up the cliff over looking the Tonto Creek. We could see the remains of an old gold mine on the opposite cliff face. On our side, there was a memorial plaque to a kayaker who died in this area during
high water in the creek.
Again, great views up and down the creek.

On the way back, we took a little detour at the cars and hiked a little way in a different direction. We stopped on a hilltop to take in the views and hiked back to the car. Again, all along the way many of us stopped to examine, and maybe collect, interesting rocks. Our friend Diane found a really great rock, a natural conglomerate of different rocks in a gray rock base. Cool!

This was the holiday hike so after the hike we all met at the casino in a separate room to have lunch together. What a nice treat!

Harry's Hike, Jasper North and Boulder's Loop

2010-11-12T14:35:00.007-07:00

On the 2nd, Randy and I joined our hiking club for a hike, north of Strawberry on Rt 260, that the club calls Harry's Hike. Harry is for H of the 9587?? forest road. The various side roads off of it are lettered and we took side road H. It's about 1 mile past the intersection of 260 and 87 heading toward Cottonwood.

Anyway, the air was crisp and the sun was shining and we had a pretty good number of hikers out with us that day. Again, open woodland, primarily ponderosa pine. The dirt road we were following didn't have any remarkable views or historic sites to look at, just a nice walk in the woods. At the end of the road, we took a quick break, then headed back.

On the way back, we stopped at a pretty stock pond (we had passed on the way in), to have our main break and snack. Too bad none of Randy's pictures came out well for this site. This is our main chat time, not that we're aren't chatting the whole way in and out again. Martin and Mary had invited their son, also Martin, to join the hike and Randy and I had a nice talk with him.

The hike out was uneventful except that the front of the group was hiking along pretty fast and separated from the rest of the group. When we got to the cars, we waited for the 2nd half of the group. After what seemed like a long wait, Mary went to see where they were. Turns out, they were chatting away and took the left instead of the right fork in the road and went a little astray. They returned shortly after Mary did so all's well that ends well.

On the 9th, the hiking club went to what they call Jasper north trail. This is an atv trail off of the entryway road to the Tonto Natural Bridge. (Rt 87N, turn onto the Tonto Natural Bridge access road and turn in at the 1st left, about 1/2 mile from the highway.)

This hike is popular because the roadbed is strewn with red and yellow jasper
rocks. This is open country, some juniper and low growing oak and manzanita. This was an end to end hike and our hike leader's husband spotted his truck at the end to take the drivers back to the cars.

The hike itself was thru rolling open country, again a sunny day but a little cool. There were lots of side atv trails. We hiked up to a hilltop, next to a barbed wire fence where we had our break. Nice views from up there.
When we left, we got about 1/4 mile when I realized I had left my hiking poles at the break spot. So, I told the group I was going back for them and went up the hill as quickly as I could so I wouldn't delay everyone too long.

Unfortunately, the trail I went charging up wasn't the right trail. The correct one veered off to the right somewhat. So, I was casting around at the top of the hill, realizing that I didn't recognize anything here when Jan, the woman I had been hiking with, called up from the bottom of the hill that she thought we were more to the right. Sure enough, when I cut over, there was the spot I recognized and there were my poles.

We hiked back down together and found Randy waiting for us at a turn, and the 3 of us hiked down the last of the hike together. We met the rest of the group at the end of the trail. We all crossed the highway at the same time and got to the pull off to wait for the truck to take the drivers back to the cars and come and get us. All in all, a good hike day, about 5 miles.

On Thursday the 11th, I felt like getting outside so Randy and I decided to check
out the Boulder's Loop trail. This is one of the Payson Area Trail System (PATS) trails that the town's parks and recreation dept. maintains. We went all the way out to the end of Phoenix St and there was the trailhead. Very easy to find.

We had a good time, going thru the ponderosa pine woods at the end of Phoenix Street, then entering the more desert-like area of boulders just a little farther out. Also interesting was that the hike went thru a small canyon area with a small stream running thru it and then, coming out to a valley area where there was a ranch and some grassland. Then back around the southern part of the loop and back to the car. Again, about a 5 mile hike but with great views of massive boulders and spires and cliffs.
A really good morning out.

Colcord Rd and Rim Trail hikes

2010-10-31T22:00:00.006-07:00

The C Group of the Payson Packers met on the 19th of October to hike a trail on Colcord Rd, several miles east of Payson. The hike began just a short way into Colcord Rd, past the Kolb Ranch.

It turned out the A Group was also hiking in this area so with our group of about 20 or more and their group, we had quite a few people hiking in the area.

As always, it was a beautiful day. We left the cars at the trail head. Here I have to make some note for my east coast friends. This is not a marked trail. Apparently, it's state or government land tho for my part I have a lot of confusion as we pass thru gated fences and over cattle grates. I'm never sure if we're on private property or state/federal land. Additionally, what would be called dirt roads in upstate NY, are everywhere. Apparently ATV or jeep trails lead in all directions. So I'm never quite sure where we are or whether we actually have permission to be on this property. So, to go on.

The hike proceded down a dirt road, track really, in an open woods. To separate ourselves from the A group, we took a short hike down a dead end track to a fence and took a water break before heading back in the direction we came. We then walked along the track in a beautiful setting, eventually walking along and then crossing a stream.
Again, to my friend back east this is not a big deal but here, a flowing stream is something to enjoy.

We hiked along and reached an uphill section, and after a short climb, turned around and started back. At a point, the group seemed to be stopping in turns to look at something. When it came my turn, it turned out the object of attention was a tarantula! Oh, we're not in New York anymore! No one actually disturbed the critter, we just looked at it and moved on our way.

Our halfway point was a really nice little clearing that others also thought was nice as a fire ring was in the clearing. It was a nice little camping spot, not too far from the stream. Having a snack and chatting till rested, we soon moved on to complete the hike.

The way back was uneventful and we had a lovely morning out.

On the 28th of October, we met at our usual place and car pooled east on highway 260 to the 260 trail head. This is the start of the Rim Trail, a 51 mile trail running from this point west to Pine AZ.

At the trail head, a car was dispatched to the far end to spot so that car drivers could be ferried back to pick up cars and get the hikers. We started the hike with a salute to a previous hiker of the club who's ashes had been carried by her family along the trail and scattered. Also at the trailhead is signage about the trail, it's history (part of the General Crook Trail) and facts on flora and fauna of the area.

The trail does not go up to the rim edge but follows along the rim, just below it. It's relatively level and at points, has great view points of the valley below where highway 260 runs.
The trail runs thru an area where cattle are allowed to run. We had to dodge many a cow pie on the trail. It's also a horse trail so thier droppings were another trail hazard.

We stopped for snack at a little over the halfway point in an open area just past the fence holding in the cattle. Many rocks and tree trunks were in the area so just about all 29 of us had a seat of some sort.

After the break we continued on and descended into a canyon like area. Not as colerful as the east coast, there were still some trees in red and bright yellow to enjoy in the damper and deeper parts of the canyon.
Even so, we stil weren't hiking in any steep places.

We came out in a camp, in See Canyon, close to the highway where our spotter car was waiting to pick up our drivers. We had a great time and covered about 7 miles. A really good hike.

Sedona Hiking

2010-10-13T11:59:00.010-07:00

A fair number of the C Group of the Payson Packers took the opportunity to meet in Sedona for a couple of days of hiking on October 11th and 12th. The trip organizer was Bonnie and she did a wonderful job!

We met at the Sedona Day's Inn at 1215 and carpooled to the trail head for the West Fork hike. As a note; the many hiking trails around Sedona are called the Red Rock trails. The West Fork hike follows the west fork of Oak Creek thru a canyon. Anyway, we carpooled a few miles north of Sedona to the trail head but had a bit of a delay in getting started. This was because the park parking lot was full. We hadn't considered that it was a holiday or how busy this obviously popular trail would be. After some delay we got all the cars parked and entry fees paid and began the hike with 25 people in our group.

This was originally a homestead and after a short stroll thru the old apple orchard, we came to the remains of the homestead. This was apparently a pretty well to do homesteader as the remains of the walls were well built and with some architectural style. The front of the home looked down on the creek where the remains of a mill and some lovely brick and stone trellis' remain. Also, the homesteader had carved out a small smokehouse in the sandstone cliff wall face.

Moving on, we hiked thru the canyon, following the creek. The limited sunlight and moist environment made it feel much like hiking in the Adirondacks.
The trail crosses the stream several times along the hike. There were lots of other hikers and at one point, a family was having a great time in the pools of the stream.

We hiked about 2 miles into the canyon and stopped for our snack break at the point of the trail where it begins to run thru the stream instead of beside it.
The hike back out was uneventful and no one slipped and fell into the steam!

Back at the hotel, we met at the pool for drinks then car pooled to the vacation villa where Bonnie and her husband Forrest were staying.
Bonnie put on a chili dinner with contributions from the rest of us. We had a great time eating and visiting with each other. The chili was great!

Tuesday, we checked out of the Day's Inn and met the group for the morning's hike. We again carpooled and went south of Sedona a couple of miles to the trail head for Broken Arrow Trail. This is a totally different environment from the West Fork trail. This hike is totally desert.
Since several people had to be elsewhere, only 17 of us attended this hike.

The views started out as stupendous and only got better. The trail is very well marked with stone cairns contained in wire baskets and very easy to follow. Also, given the mountains all around us, it wasn't too hilly or steep either. We stopped for views of the local famous church at a place called Chicken Point (don't you just love Arizona place names!) and had a group photo taken by two young women from Mississippi. Unfortunately, Randy's camera wasn't used for this photo so I can't share it here.

Then, well rested, we continued on to a halfway point. This location is used by the Pink Jeep tours too and we met a few groups while here.
Standing on a bare point, we had great views of the cliff faces and valley below us. Again, a couple people got group photos, and we took a snack and water break here.

Moving on, about the 3/4 point, the trail passes a sink hole. Signage at this location noted that the sink hole is used by bats and gave some info both on how a sink hole forms and on the bats that now live there. I think it is at this point that the Broken Arrow trail ends and the Little Horse Trail picks up.

So, following the Little Horse Trail, about 1130, about 2 1/2 hours after starting, we reached the trail head where Forrest and Dick were waiting to take the carpool drivers back to the cars. What a great hike. Many thanks to Bonnie for organizing the trip.

Gen Crook Trail and Houston Mesa Hikes

2010-09-29T11:51:00.006-07:00

On September 21st, we took Elizabeth (who was visiting us) on our usual Tuesday hike. Meeting the other hikers at our usual spot in front of the store Stages, we introduced Elizabeth around the group. Then, right on time, we took off east on Highway 260 to the Ranger Station (right side of the road) in the Sitgreaves National Park, opposite the turn off to the Woods Canyon area.

Parking in a very nice parking area, we began our hike at one of several trail heads for the General Crook Trail. Gen. Crook was the head of the military in Arizona, tasked with solving the "Indian" problem in the Territory. This trail, which begins near what is now Show Low AZ in the east, ran all the way along the top of the Mogollon Rim to what is now Prescott AZ. It was the 3rd "highway" developed in the state.

The trail is actually quite lovely, fairly level and running thru an open oak and pine forest. Then leaving the trail, we hiked along a few of the park roads, passing many un-occupied camping spots to where we finally took our snack break, at a picnic area at the top of the rim. From here we had an outstanding view of the valley below. Quite impressive. Unfortunately, all of our pictures were lost in some sort of technical difficulty.

From the view point, it was only about 1/4 mile back to the ranger station and the cars. For those who don't have time or inclination to hike, the ranger station has a back deck area with an awesome view of the valley, very similar to the one we had from 1/4 mile away. It's worth the time to stop and walk out on the back deck to see the view.

This Tuesday, the 28th, we went on what the group calls Sally's Hike. From her house in Payson, Sally could see people up on top of the Houston Mesa. Wondering how they got up there, Sally did some exploring and found the spot. Going out Houston Mesa Road and passing the Houston Mesa trailhead, we continued another 1/2 mile or so and parked in a large pull off on the left. From here, we hiked about 1/2 mile to the look out point that Sally can see from her house. It's quite the view of the valley below with nearly all of Payson in sight.

From there, we continued on to a 2nd view point, then on across the mesa, just exploring the many ATV trails across the top. Randy and I noted a lot of nice looking stones scattered along the road and the mesa top. Not being any sort of rock hound, I called them chalcedony. Another hiker thought they might be an agate. Either way, Randy found a nice 3 pounder and let me carry it in my back pack as he only had a waist pack on that day. He's so nice.

We stopped for a snack in a dry wash next to a cattle pond. Everyone was in as much shade as they could find as the day had turned very warm and this hike was pretty much in the sun the whole way.

After getting back to the cars, we assembled in Payson at ramada number 3 in Rumsey Park to have the annual birthday party. Sally and her husband and some others had purchased some cake and ice cream with donations from the group. We sang happy birthday to each other and lots of cake and ice cream was shared along with lots of chat time. I hope everyone had as good a time as I did.

Washington Park and Box Canyon

2010-09-15T12:38:00.016-07:00

Last week (the 7th of Sep) Randy and I joined the Payson Packers for a hike in Washington Park. This is an area north of Payson, going up the Mogollon Rim. In the late 1800's, some bright company thought a railroad line from Flagstaff south to Phoenix would be a good idea and they started the project woefully low on funds and with the idea to put a tunnel throught the rim. Unfortunately, before they got 100 feet into the cliff face, they were out of money and the whole project went belly up.

So on the 7th, the group gathered together and car pooled through a quite lovely area of northern Gila County to an access point on the Arizona Trail. We hiked, all uphill, about 1.6 miles to a side trail that leads to the tunnel. What was really nice about this part of the hike is that a stream runs along the trail nearly the whole way to our turn off. What a treat that must be for any AZ Trial thru hiker after the dryness of the southern half of the state. After a short rest at a circular "ruin" most of the group proceeded up the rim face to the tunnel. Let me explain the "ruin". It is a circular wall of stacked stone, recently done by hikers and campers through the area.

The hike up the rim face was made a little exciting by the downed trees obstructing the path. While it was steep, I didn't think it was excessively so. Once up the the tunnel, we could walk inside. Evidence of people using the tunnel mouth as a camping site was plain to see but the site was clean. After a short walk around the area, we clambered back down the rim face and back to the "ruin" where most of us had left our packs for the climb up.

We pressed on back down the trail and, it being downhill the whole way, we made much better time than when we were going up. Only one person slipped on the pebbly trail. He scraped his arm up pretty good but was otherwise unhurt.

Since the hike to the tunnel was so short, we decided to pick up a side trail on the way out and go to a spot where geodes are abundant. So, a couple miles down the road on the way out, we turned onto an unmarked dirt road (ATV trail really) that leads into a open woodland. Hiking about 15 minutes in from where we parked the cars, we came to an area where there were geodes all over the ground. These ranged in size from golf ball to softball sizes. When split open, they weren't totally hollow nor did they have the amythyst crystals. However, there was a bit of hollow to them and a brownish crystalline structure which was pretty in it's own right.

Done with our geode gathering, we all headed back to the parking lot and the end of that hiking day.

On Tuesday the 14th, we joined the group for a hike to a box canyon, a few miles east of Payson on Highway 260. At mile marker 271, we pulled off to a small area where 6 or 7 cars could park. Since the hike to the canyon would be a short one, we crossed the road and hiked up a well used dirt road and trail to nowhere in particular. We crossed a nice stream, probably spring fed, as it did not run all the way to the highway. Once we'd gone in about 1/2 to 3/4 mile, we turned around anc went back to the highway.

Once across, the trail to the box canyon was again, thru pretty open woodland.
Lots of pine trees, holly bushes and some scrub oak. The trail eventually lead to a rocky path down the side of the canyon to the bottom. Of course, there were several very breathtaking views on the hike down.

Once at the bottom, we rested and had snacks next to a very nice stream.
This is a popular location for families and teens to come on weekends and during the summer as the stream has pools good for swimming. Despite the popularity, the area was very clean and tidy.

Once done with our rest, we continued downstream thru the canyon bottom (a grassland), to the local boy scout camp. Here we cut thru the camp on the driveway leading back out to highway 260. Along the way we met a grey mare. Since we didn't appear to be threatening, her colt came out from behind the trees to investigate us. Neither mare nor colt were restrained. As we were getting acquianted with the mare, the camp keeper and his grandson drove up to us. We all had a nice chat about the horses. Turns out the mare was a rescue from a failed ranch. She's the camp pet and roams freely around the camp.

Finally, we got back underway and once up to the highway, walked back to the parking area. Everyone picked up trash along the road as we went. Back at the cars, we had a short discussion about the upcoming trip to Sedona and where the planning meeting is to be held. Then it was back to the mall parking lot and the end of another successful hike.

Ceder trail and Woods Canyon Lake hike

2010-09-01T06:40:00.010-07:00

It's been awhile but we've finished moving into our new house and feel we have time to start hitting the trails.

Monday, we decided to get out to a local hike, built and maintained by the city of Payson Parks and Recreation service. Called a Payson Area Trail System (PATS) hike, we drove about 3 miles out and found this trail, Ceder Trail. The landscape is pretty dry, more of what people think of when they think Arizona.

We had a great morning for a hike, about 73 degrees and breezy. Randy stopped to take pictures all along the way. The hike was only about a mile to the junction with another trail and that junction is actually in one of the outlying residential areas of the town of Payson. On our hike yesterday, Dave (I'll talk about him later) said that there is a trail juntion from there that goes to the next town of Star Valley. Very cool.

Anyway, we had to get back home to meet the tree surgeon who was coming to take down a dead pine tree. So we hiked back. The terrain is very rolling. It's not that steep but I still gasp some on the uphill slopes. Eventually I'll get used to the altitude (Payson is about 5000 feet).

On Tuesday, we hooked up the the local hiking club, the Payson Packers. This club is so large, they break into groups based on how fast/far they hike. Since we're still acclimating to the environment, we chose the C group, slow hikers who stay pretty much to the easier trails. We met the contact, Dave, at the parking lot and he introduced us to several of the hikers and organized a ride for us.

We met in a local mall parking lot about 0715 and shared ride with some nice people. In this club, each rider pays the driver $3 to cover gas. We were in a van that could carry 7 so we had a nice ride out with Dave and others to the Sitgreves National Forest where Woods Canyon Lake is located, just a few miles east of Payson.

There were about 27 people in this particular hike. We all arrived at the parking area within the park by about 0830. Note this is a large park and there is camping available in several locations. Also several other trails within the park. Anyway, we debarked the vehicles and headed off to circum-ambulate the lake.

A man-made lake, it is nevertheless very pretty and has a well maintained trail around it. It is also surprizingly like hiking in the Adirondacks. Randy and I felt right at home. The total milage for the hike is about 3 or 3.5 miles. We were finished by 1030 or so. We saw bald eagles, people fishing in the lake, lots and lots of wild flowers. Some I could recognize, like aster and blue eyed grass. Others were new to me. This is a columbine!

We had a great time and will do our best to reserve Tuesdays so we can hike with the club.

New Home

2010-07-30T20:54:00.003-07:00

It's been a trip.

Several of my NY friends have posted how "brave" I'e been to just "move". It hasn't seemed such a big trip for this, at least to me. I suppose it has to do with the many moves I made while in the Air Force. However, I do understand that leap into the unknown we made. That would be a big leap for someone who's never trusted that everthing will turn out given patience.

Today, it finally seemed to me that we are settling in. We're getting the "mess" in the garage organized. We are getting the guest bedroom organised. We are getting the "Yard" cleaned. I'm finally feeling at home.

Most importantly, I feel more in touch with the environment. The huge difference between upstate NY (the Adirondacks) and the southwest are so huge that I still cannot reconcile them. However, rain is rain and it's monsoon season here now (July 30th). This means some humidity, clouds (beautiful of course), and rain, every day.

I'm seeing long views that I don't get other than mountain tops in the Adirondacks. It's a new environment, long views without the work. So, I'm adjusting. I'm working to adjust to the elevation, the heat, the dryness. To learn how to survive here.

This and That

2010-05-28T20:32:00.002-07:00

I've been on a couple of hikes the last couple of weeks that I haven't written about. I'm in transition. My husband, Randy, and I have decided to leave upstate NY. This is not an easy thing for me. I've been really happy here. Not only happy, I've felt that this is absolutely the best place on earth for me.

I've actually grown roots to this place, I've gotten to know people, know the local politics, gotten to know the local people. After 20 years in the military, moveing every 2 years or so, this is a really new thing for me, to be in one place long enough to know the name of the local restarant owner and he actually know me!?

I have many hiking friends, long distance hikers. One of them (actually 3 of them) are now hiking the Pacific Crest trail from the California/Mexico border, north along the Sierras, to Canada. One of them, hiking name of Low, has his own blog: http://perfectevolutionstudios.com/findingphilip/. Please take a look, he's much better than I am at explaining the "call of the wild".

So, what is this post about? I'm not sure. I've grown deep attachments to this place. However, my background of constant movement makes me long for the new horizon. Last year Randy and I made a loop of the entire US in just under 3 months. I've told many of you that I could have stayed on the road for much longer.

So, we're moving to Arizona, Payson to be exact. This is an area we've visited but haven't totally explored. I'm looking forward to it while actually grieving for my current homeland. I'll miss a great many things about the ADK, green! Lots of green and rolling hills/mountains. I will not miss the biting bugs! The southwest offers an entirely new experience, that, I'm looking forward to.

Today, Randy and I, and 3 local hiking friends (and dogs!) took a short hike. Nothing extraordinary, just woods and water. However, I'll miss both the hiking and my friends deeply.

Tennant Creek Falls Hike

2010-02-08T16:38:00.005-07:00

It seemed like Sunday would be too nice a day to stay inside so we called our neice Emily, and scheduled ourselves a hike on the Tennant Creek Falls trail. Sunday dawned sunny and kind of cold, while we were hiking about 25 degrees but there wasn't a breeze so it really was perfect.

Emily's dad, Don (my 2nd brother) brought her to the house and we were on the road to the trailhead by 10am. The trail is in Hope Falls, not too far from where we live so it didn't take us long to get there. However, this is a seasonal use road and where the road turns from paved to dirt, was a temporary barrier. We parked there and it was about a mile hike into the trail head.

It was obvious from the boot and ski tracks that this is a popular location, even in winter. It took about 1/2 an hour to get to the actual trail head.
We signed in and started down the trail to the bridge where the Tennant Creek Falls trail takes a hard right and splits from the Wilcox Lake trail. We had carried our snow shoes to this point but it seemed obvious that with only a couple of inches of snow on the ground that snow shoes just weren't needed. While we were tying them onto our packs a guy and his dog blew by us, up the Tennent Creek Falls trail.

Anyway, snow shoes packed, we headed off. Tennant Creek had quite a bit of broken ice, due, I suspect to the warm rains we had a couple of weeks ago. Very pretty in the sunlight. The trail to the 1st (of 3) falls is just shy of a mile from the trail head and we got there a little before noon. We met the guy and dog again, leaving to go back to the trail head, just as we got there.

Normally, this is a pretty waterfall with a good sized pool at the bottom that lots of people come to play in during the summer months. This time of year it was frozen over tho we could see that the water was flowing pretty quickly under the ice.
We had lunch on a convenient fallen tree and then Randy got some pics of us and the falls. We thought we'd try and move on to the 2nd falls, about another mile or so from the first. While the trail to the 1st falls was pretty well used, the trail to the 2nd falls hadn't been used in a while. So, we decided not to go and turned around to go back.

We spent some time on the way back taking pictures, just as we did on the way up. It's hard to convey how pretty the stream is and the great ice formations we could see. However, I think some good pics were taken.
It was a good day out, expecially since we wanted to burn a few calories in preparation for the Super Bowl snack fest in store for the evening.

Indian Falls Snowshoe

2010-01-28T11:57:00.005-07:00

On January 21st Randy and I met with our hiking friends Kathy, Gail, Dan and his dog Brownie, a chocolate lab. We decided to go up to Canada Lake area, and finding a place to park at the Kane Mountain trail head, met with everyone for the hike.

Having had relatively warm weather for the past few days, we had really firm snow to walk on, didn't even really need the snow shoes for the 1st 1/4 mile or so of the trail.
The trail goes along Green lake then passing the end, goes to Otter Lake. There, in dazzling sparkles from sunlight on frosted branches, you can see the little private cabin that sits at the south end of the lake.

The trail continued along Otter lake, till we got to the end of that, then we
started the "bush whack" part of the hike. Kathy and Gail had been this way a couple of weeks previously and spotted a small waterfall a mile or two to the north and east of the end of Otter Lake. That's where we were headed.

We really didn't have any difficult trail but the lakes tended to be slushy so we avoided snow shoeing up the lake and stuck to the wooded shore. There was lots of deer and fox sign. Brownie made it more fun because he would decide to move from his position as point at the front of the group, drop back to check on Dan at the end of the group, then, trying to pass everyone to get to the head of the line again, step on our snowshoes. It made the hike kind of interesting. The hardest part of the hike was the last 1/4 mile into the gorge to the waterfall. It was very steep and a little tricky but we finally made it.

Once there, the falls, about 20 ft high, was frozen over tho we could hear the water running under the ice. We took a lunch break there, Brownie going from person to person just in case someone decided they didn't want their lunch. Gail, as always, had many dog treats with her to give to our 4 legged hiking friend. She's always a favorite hiking partner.

After lunch, Randy managed to get the camera set up on a hiking pole on the ice and
he got a good group shot of us all next to the waterfall. Again, the hike out of the gorge a little tricky due to the steepness. Over the now well trod trail, it didn't seem to take any time to get back out and at the end, we walked out without snow shoes on the icy, hard packed snow of the last 1/4 mile. Over the course of the whole hike, each of us managed to do a face plant at least once, sometimes because Brownie was stepping on our snow shoe or due to a trip over hidden branches or a steep spot. All part of the fun!

Overall, a great 4.1 mile hike.

Winter Hike to Mud Lake

2010-01-17T08:58:00.006-07:00

Last weekend's snowshow was so much fun that Randy and I wanted to get out again. Unlike last week, the 16th was warm, 30+ degrees. We didn't even wear snow pants, just long johns and regular hiking pants. I did wear gaiters to keep the snow out of my boots. So we decided to just stay close to home and hike up to Mud Lake. The trail starts about 1 mile from our house and know we'd be tired after the snow shoe, we drove the jeep up to the trail head.

Once I had my gaiters on and was strapped into my snow shoes, I decided to put my jacket in my pack. I knew the trail up to Mud Lake is pretty much uphill all the way so I started out in just a short sleeve wicking t-shirt and my fleece, no hat and glove liners on my hands.

This area usually sees snow machine traffic so we were surprised that there were no snow machine tracks. Plenty of deer tracks tho and some others, squirrel, and something that looked like racoon but really pretty big.
So we slog up the hill and curve off the the right to cross the stream on a snow covered rickety bridge. Usually snow machine traffic keeps it pretty clear of snow
but it was obvious, no machine traffic had been thru this year. Not being able to see the wide spread slats made me uncomfortable but we got over without incident.

Turning left at the old cabin, we trudged up the hill to the State Forest boundary. Even tho no snow machines had been thru, we were able to find the trail pretty well. Along this part of the trail was not only deer tracks but big areas, under oaks especially, where the snow has been scraped away and churned up. I guess by deer looking for acorns.

As we got higher up the mountain we passed several of these spots. Toward the area I knew we needed to take a right to get to the lake, there was so much of this churned up area that I wonder just how many deer were in the area. Some of the area also looked like a lot of deer had spent the night or nights. Up on the shoulder of the mountain, and with the leaves gone from the trees, we could see both Winnie's Pond and the Sacandaga. A nice view since the sun had finally come out.

With all the deer track and snow cover, it turned out we missed our right turn and ended up bushwhacking. We proceeded forward for a bit, threading our way thru bramble areas and over fallen trees until we decided to bear right, up a small ridge and see if we could spot the pond. Sure enough, we had over shot the trail and ended up at the southern end of the lake. Not a huge deal tho, we were mainly out for the hike, not a really specific destination.

By now we were both tired and we started looking for a likely fallen tree to sit on out of the bit of breeze and have a lunch break. I found a pretty good spot and we spent 20 minutes or so resting, eating and have a hot tea. It didn't take us long to get back to our bushwhack trail and we followed it back down the mountian. Not too far along I spotted where we should have turned and that made us feel a little better. It was just hard to see in the snow and being unmarked, easy to miss.

Anyway, getting down the mountain never takes as long as getting up it tho by the time we got back to the car, it was still a 3 hour hike. We got our exercise and had a good time out.

Broomstick to Nine Corner Lake Hike

2010-01-17T08:32:00.007-07:00

I'm a little late on this blog. This hike was on the 10th of January but here goes. Randy and I took Emily with us and arrived at the Nine Corner Lake trail head parking by 9am. The morning was cold, about 20 degrees and overcast but we were up for a hike. Several cars were there already and by 0915, it seemed everyone had arrived. Kathy Miles had advertized the hike in a couple of different media so we had several new people with us for the hike. Altogether, I think about 20, perhaps the biggest number of people turning out for a hike in many a long month.

Kathy's husband Don was along to help shuttle drivers. So we loaded up vehicles with all the passengers they could carry and shuttled hikers up to the Broomstick Lake trailhead. Then, drivers took the cars back to the Nine Corner Lake parking area and Don brought them all back. The only car still at the Broomstick Lake trailhead was Kathy's. All other cars were at Nine Corner Lake. Shuttling finished, we headed off toward Broomstick by about 10am.

The trail was unbroken snow and Gail started us out by breaking trail. We were strung out along the way pretty well as some members hike a little faster than others. About 3/4 of the way to Broomstick, we took a hard left (south) and began the bushwhack to Nine Corner Lake.

At one point, the trail led over a pretty steep spot and a few of us decided to slide down rather than step down.
A few places along the way held some interesting giant boulders, perhaps glacial erratics.

Several members had compasses and GPS units and a confab with devices and maps was held for several minutes.
The extra time paid off tho as we came out to Nine Corner Lake right where our hike leader wanted to. About this point, the sun came out but the day was still very cold. The plan was to hike out on the lake from this point but when a few of the hikers got out there, there was slushy ice. Feeling this was an unsafe condition, we continued to bushwhack thru the woods. We did this until we got to the area right across from where the Nine Corner Lake trail comes out to the lake.

Here, snow machine tracks on the lake reassured us that the ice would hold and we crossed safely to the trail. It was here we met a few hikers that missed Kathy at the meeting place and decided to meet us at the lake. Since a bit of wind was blowing, we hiked up the now snow machine packed trail to the Y intersection, out of the wind and had a bite to eat.

The hike out to the trailhead was uneventful and very fast due to the well packed trail. Once out to the cars, about 3 hours after our start, several people decided to meet at the Lake Pleasant Inn for some warming drinks. It was a great day out.

Betty and Wilber Davis State Park

2009-12-07T21:40:00.003-07:00

Whoa! Who knew such a little gem existed. Just 25 miles or so from Cooperstown, a 300 acre (plus or minus) donation from the namesakes. They also left stipends for building cabins that can be rented and are close enough to Cooperstown to have a little camp out in the woods and day trips to the sites of Cooperstown.

We're not talking little cabins like the KOA either. These are house sized and from peaking in the windows, very nicely appointed. Some are also handicapped equipped.

OK, the hike. We did a loop from the 1st public parking lot. This area has a flush toilet (men's, women's and handicapped), large field and an extremely nice pavilion. A fishing pond, catch and release is also there.

Anyway, we all met at the parking lot and after donning packs, etc., we trudged off. The route was pretty much the perimeter of the property. The hike went through wooded area and fields.
Some extremely nice stonework was observed at the edges of the property. I can just imagine how nice the fields looked in August, covered with the live Queen Anne's Lace and Golden Rod, the remains of which we passed by when crossing the fields.

The day was overcast and cold when we started and not too far into the hike, a light snow began to fall. Now how cool is that! I love hiking in that kind of weather. As all good things must, we ended the hike at the pavilion next to our parking lot. We had a trail lunch and Monica, our hike leader, passed out miniature LARA bars as a treat.

Not a big exertion today but a lovely day out and what a treat to find such a little gem of a state park. Thanks Monica and Irv for a great hike.

Goodnow Mountain Firetower

2009-11-08T11:56:00.007-07:00

Taking a look at the Fall/Winter Alpiner hiking schedule, Randy and I decided to go on the Goodnow Mountain hike. The mountain is up near Newcomb and is off limits to hunting, making for a bit safer hike.

The weather turned out to be cold, but not too cold and in Northville at 8am, clear blue skies. By the time we reached Speculator 4 corners, where we were meeting the rest of the group, the sky was overcast and about 1/2 inch of snow was on the ground. It turned out to be a big group, 11 traveling and to meet one at the trailhead. Too many names for me to remember but no one brought a dog or a youngster tho there were 2 prospective new members along on the trip.

We reached the nice parking area at Goodnow mountain and by 10:30 set off up the mountain. The snow was still only about 1/2 inch deep but the trail itself had many semi-frozen muddy spots.
We had to be careful about slipping in wet mud, ice, and wet leaves. The climb was relatively pleasant, not too steep and several spots where it leveled out and a person could catch their breath while still moving forward.

We met a couple of fellows and their chocolate lab who was wearing his own pack, coming down the mountain. We also encountered a spot on the trail where we could get a preliminary peek at what the view from the top would be like.

The group was strung out along the trail pretty far, so while some reached the top a little before 12 noon, some reached it a little after. Once up there tho, the cloud cover broke and the sun came out. We had clear views all around the area including many of the high peaks. Most of the group climbed up the fire tower. Randy did and got some pretty cool pictures of the group, looking down from the fire tower.

Chatting, scenery gawking, and lunch over with, we hit the trail back down the mountain about 12:45. The way down was even more slippery as the newly emerged sun was causing rapid meltage of snow and ice. However, no serious falls or other catastrophes marred the great day out we had. Round trip was about 3 miles. Everyone had cheery cheeks as we said our goodbyes.

Cascade and Hopkins Mountain Climbs

2009-10-11T07:36:00.004-07:00

So, kind of last minute, I joined my hiking friends Kathy and Gail on October 5th and 6th for some high peaks hiking. We hit the road early, about 8am from the Benson Rd and headed north for Keene Valley.

We got up to The Hostel (http://www.keenevalleyhostel.com/) about 11am to claim our bed space then headed to Cascade's trail head. The day was forecast for scattered showers and that's just what we got. The rocky trail was muddy and slippery so we proceeded with care.
The 2 hour hike up to the top wasn't bad but at the summit, the wind was really blowing hard so we just tapped the marker with our toes and headed back down. I did take a minute to take a picture of it. No view at all as the peak was totally socked in. Leaving the summit we had a trail runner and his chocolate lab run by us headed for the summit.

Headed back down we discussed whether or not to go for Porter too. We agreed to give it a go and started down the trail. Near the bottom of the descent down Cascade, we met some people coming back from thier trip to Porter. The trail was very muddy, they said, and of course, still no view from the top due to the weather. We made a group decision to turn back. None of us were all that into peak bagging and we wanted to hit the Mountaineer shop before it closed anyway. So, back up the trail to the junction with the Cascade trail for the trip back to the car. On the way to the junction, the trail runner and his dog passed us again, headed for Porter.

We took about as much time going down the Cascade trail as we did going up as the rocks were wet and slippery. Again, the trail runner and dog passed us going down to the trail head. I haven't spoken about others on the trail, but they were there. Not totally crowded but a good number of people for a week day and a rainy one at that.

We got back to the car and visited The Mountaineer. I got a Cascade patch and Kathy and Gail got pack covers. Then on to The Hostel to clean up. We unloaded the gear and our overnight bags and went into the Hostel. Nice place, small kitchen with stove and fridge for making your own meals, small living room area and a mud room with space for gear and a work bench for gear repair. Beds are upstairs and named for various mountains. After I cleaned up, Kathy broke out a nice bottle of wine and Gail broke out some before dinner snacks. We shared the wine and snacks with a couple from Great Britain, also staying at the Hostel. They were on a tour of the US and decided to come up to the Adirondacks for a few days.

About 7pm we went across the road to the diner and had a nice meal, then back to the hostel to relax. We read and relaxed and talked with a young woman from Holland, who arrived while we were at dinner. We had a nice chat about her hiking adventures in Nepal and talked about some hikes in the high peaks she may enjoy. A long day for me, I hit the bed about 9:30pm.

Up at 7am, we breakfasted and packed up and were out the door by about 8am. A short drive later, we were at the Hopkins trail head. The weather on the 6th was nice. Clear and partly sunny. The trail was also a little nicer, forest floor rather than rocks. This trail went in stages, kind of level, then a steep up, repeated all the way to the peak. Once there, we had great views of the valley and many of the high peaks. The fall colors were fantastic. We had lunch up there and I managed to get a group photo of the 3 of us with the view in the background.

No drama on the way back down. A few hikers on the trail, certainly not as many as were on Cascade the day before. Once back at the car, we headed home. What a great time and great company.

Hadley Mt September 2009

2009-09-03T19:02:00.005-07:00

We again took a trip up Hadley Mountain. Due to our spring trip around the country, our annual Hadley trip has been a little delayed. Howver, we got it scheduled and managed to talk one other person into coming with us. My 4-H member, Haleigh, decided that since she hadn't been up this mountain, she'd come along.

We were very lucky and have a week of really nice late summer/early fall weather. Clear, not to hot and not too cold. Just perfect. We left our house at 9am and 22 miles later, were at the trail head. Only one other car there when we arrived.

We trudged up the mountain and at trail location 2 (if you're lucky enough to have a map describing some of the points of interest along the way) we stopped for a breather. Hadley is only a little over a mile to the summit, but it's just about straight up the whole way.

We trudged on, looking at chimpmunks, toads and other nature scenes along the way. We passed the owner of the lone car at the trailhead coming down when we were about 1/3 of the way up. Haleigh of course, being only 13, never broke a sweat. Randy and I were red of face and sweating thru our shirts.

We got to the top about 1 hour and 20 minutes from when we started. Pretty good actually. We had the top to ourselves for nearly our whole stay there. Then a
family group, mom with child carrier, dad and small boy in hand came up. While there we snapped a few pictures, climbed the fire tower and had lunch.

Upon leaving we stopped at the old ranger cabin to use the privy. The cabin had been broken into early in the spring. A $1000 award for the capture of the knot heads who did it.

By then, people were coming up the mountain. I told Haleigh my theory about this mountain. As it's very popular, and from past experience, I reckoned that the ratio of people to dogs was 4 to 1. On the way down, she put this to the test by counting people and dogs. Sure enough. By the time we got to the bottom, the ratio theory had held.

Overall, a great day out. The view was great and we had lots of fun too.

Girls' Hike

2009-08-14T12:56:00.008-07:00

Those of you who follow this blog may recall that last year Randy and I took our niece Emily and my 4H'er, Haleigh, on a 2 day hike. See: Friday, July 11, 2008
2 day Overnight with niece. Well, after that hike, the girls said they'd like to do a 2 night, 3 day hike. So early this spring, we got together and planned out this year's hike.

On Aug 11, we started our hike, minus Randy. He had his fill of long distance, multi-day hikes with last year's adventure. Anyway, Emily and Haleigh got to our house before 8am and we said good-bye's to moms and piled in the car and headed the 10 miles to the Benson trail head of the Northville - Lake Placid trail. The plan: to hike from Benson to Silver Lake on day 1, Silver Lake to Whitehouse on day 2, then out to Rt 8 at Piseco on day 3.

Randy took the traditional, start of hike picture and we were on our way by 0850.

Emily started the hike recovering from a bout of cold and fever so her pack (a Gossamer Gear ultralite) weighed 7.2 pounds. Haleigh, using a conventional pack, was carrying about 16 (?) pounds. My pack, another Gossamer Gear, weighed 32 pounds as I was carrying both my tent and the girls tent plus all my gear, safety and emergency and 1st aid gear. Ugh.

The day seemed to go by pretty quickly. We saw 5 people on the trail; one family of 3and 2 male hikers. We got to Silver Lake by about 2pm. We took a short break at the lean to, then explored around it. We were sort of hoping for a campsite near the water, looking for a breeze to help keep the mosquitoes at bay. No such luck. Therefore - we set up camp in the lean to. We spent the next hour relaxing; Emily and Haleigh played a few games of cards. We finaly went down to the lake where we filled water bottles for supper time. Then spent some time gathering wood for a camp fire. At about 5pm, we made dinner. Wash up was only a cup and 3 spoons as we mostly ate out of the back packer meal bags.

A little after 6pm, we experimented with the little flint on the bottom of the Walmart orange emergency match holder. With the back side of my pocket knife, we tried to strike the flint hard enough to spark. We couldn't do it. Th flint wasn't high enough above the plastic and striking the flint hard caused the blade to fold in. Overall the experiment in emergency fire starting was a bust. However, it is good to find out that the emergency flint is useless and not to be relied upon. I'm hoping to try a fire bow experiment tomorrow.

We spent some more time just lazing about after starting the campfire in the conventional way. It was too early of course, as the sun was still up but it was a nice little fire given the wet wood. We all enjoyed it. The girls were fast asleep by 8:30pm (just dark). I enjoyed the last embers of the fire and turned in myself about 9pm.

On Wednesday August 12th, we were all up by 7am. Even taking our time with breakfast and packing up, we were on the trail by 0830.

The girls started a game, counting salamanders they spotted as they passed by on the trail. The count was 21 by lunch time. I also overheard them keeping track of how often each of them had fallen. I'm not totally sure if the winner was the one with the most or the least number of falls.

This day's hike was quite the slog. Lots of mud holes, swamps, boggy areas, beaver ponds to go around, etc. It made for a somewhat slow hike. Nevertheless, we lunched about 1145 and started up again at 1215. By 1345 we were at Mud Lake lean to. We stopped there for about 15 minutes for a breather and a water break. When I started hearing thunder, despite the clear blue sky, we decided to hurry up.

It was 2.5 miles to Whitehouse, and thankfully, this section is mostly downhill. It was here we met a couple doing a short day hike, probably to Mud Lake as they missed their turn off for a waterfall. I now suspect they originally wanted the Big Eddy and waterfalls trail but they turned toward Mud Lake instead of Piseco. At any rate, I gave them what help I could and we pressed on. We got to the Whitehouse parking lot and walked down the road a short way, taking the 1st campsite we came to.

We set the girls tent up and then I set mine up. It was getting much darker and windy so Haleigh and I went to the river bank (Sacandaga River) to get water bottles filled. About the time we were filling the last bottle, it started sprinkling. We all got in the tents but after an hour it never did more than sprinkle and the storm passed us by.

By 5pm we were all hungry so we found a relatively dry spot to sit and cooked our dinners. The girls shared a Mountain House spaghetti and meatballs. They declared it better than the Mac and Cheese they had the night before. I had a home made dehydrated meal called Moraccan Stew. Pretty good for me. Since I had done the washing up the night before, the girls did the washing up this night. They did a good job too.

The girls took a walk down the road and I'm finishing this entry and about to find a spot to hang the food bags. I hear and see a lot of chipmunks so I want to at least try and protect our food. Seems like we won't get to the firebow experiment. Too tired I guess. Tomorrow is our last day.

Again, up at 0700. I made some tea and hot cereal. The girls ate cold food; cereal and cereal bars. We packed up and again were on the trail by 0840. It's 6 miles to Rt 8 and the 1st 2.5 miles to Hamilton Stream Bridge go by really fast. The girls have lead each day, taking turns being point. I haven't had to watch the trail hardly at all. Today, they stopped short with a little scream. Turns out a medium sized garter? snake had chosen the trail as the spot to catch and begin to eat a toad. Both girls were quite skittish about going around the snake, especially after they saw the toad was still alive and thrashing it's little legs. So I took the lead for a few feet till we got by the drama. We made Hamilton Stream Bridge in 65 minutes, whoo, cooking! So we took a long morning break, enjoying the sunshine on the bridge and watching the water flow by.

By 1015, we got on our way. Out hiking friends Kathy and Gail were going to meet us somewhere on the trail, coming from Rt 8. Not too far up the trail, maybe about 3/4 mile, we came across a new beaver pond. There was a big dead pine tree going across so Haleigh went first. She got over without a lot of trouble, and Emily followed too. However, my foot slipped off the bank while one foot was on the tree trunk. Into the water my right leg went, about 1/2 way to my knee and causing me to get some small cuts from the tree snag, on my hand. OK, big breath, take a lot of time, I finally inch my way across the tree trunk, balancing around the snags on the tree the girls seemed to just dance around. After making it to the other side and while I'm wringing out my sock, the girls spotted the trail going around the end of the pond. Big sigh.

We get going again and shortly after, we meet Kathy and Gail and their dog friend Mokie. Greeting were had all around and Gail gave each girl a dog treat to give to Mokie so they were all friends. This section of trail is all up hill so I had to go pretty slow as the pack, despite the food reduction of two days, is still about 30 pounds. Additionally, I haven't felt well all morning. So I slog along and at the few fairly level places, manage to have a chat with Kathy and Gail. We lunched about 1130, Mokie taking extreme interest in Haleigh's SPAM sandwich. Pushing on again, we got to the bridge near Buckhorn Lake about 1215. Here Kathy and Gail and Mokie turned off to go to the lake. They wanted to see if the osprey and heron nests could be seen. So we said our goodbyes and moved on.

About 1/3 of a mile from the trail head, the girls started getting excited when they could hear the road traffic. They had big hoots of joy when we got to the trail register. They hooted and cheered the whole way across the blueberry bog as we approached Rt 8. Big dance when they emerged onto the road and my hubby, Randy, appeared in the nearby driveway/parking lot. We all had a good time but it was good to "get back to civilization" as the girls put it.

It has been a real treat to see how much experience they have gotten over the last 3 years of our hiking project. They now carry just enough gear and food. They had the right equipment with them and were confident about following the marked trail. They're well on their way to being life long hikers. What a joy to be out with them.

Hiking Update

2009-06-12T18:30:00.003-07:00

On May 14th, Randy and I began a round the USA trip. We'd been thinking about this since we were in the AF. Since I retired in 1995, it seemed to us about time we did the trip.

Randy is blogging and posting pics of the trip at his myspace account: http://www.myspace.com/reloc.cfm?c=2&id=1bfea7fb-969c-47ac-8d42-37dcbde9df3e

We've managed to hike to the top of Mt Rogers, VA; Mt Mitchell in NC; and Brasstown Bald in GA. All of these are their state's highest mountains. We didn't even scope out the high peaks in FL or LA. We did however, give a shot at Guadalupe Peak in TX.
We ran out of time since we wanted to get to Carlsbad Caverns that day too. We missed getting to the peak by about 1 trail mile. I feel bad about leaving something incomplete but we were only going to be at that location one day and felt we had to see the caverns.

Anyway, we're now just outside of Santa Fe. We hiked a nature trail at the Bandelier National Monument, NM. This is an abandoned indian cliff dwelling site. So stupendous, I can't even say. At the far point of the trail is a section called the Alcove. A large hollow in the cliff face, 140 feet above the ground. The walls of the built village are gone now but the kiva had been rebuilt. My legs are still a little tired from climbing up and down the ladders leading to the cliff dwellings and the Alcove.

So, If you're interested in our trip, please go to the MySpace account I gave above and become Randy's friend. He's posting pics and a blog nearly everyday.

Oregon Trail

2009-05-06T11:36:00.006-07:00

On Monday the 4th, Kathy, Gail, Randy and I and Mokie the dog, went hiking on the Oregon trail. The trailhead is on Rt 8, the same one that leads to Cod Pond. None of us know why the trail is called the Oregon trail. It actually leads to Baldwin Springs.

At any rate, the day was sunny and very pleasant. It was also warmer than the weather forecast had predicted, mid-60s or more. We started off about 10am and at the trail register, instead of proceeding straight ahead to Cod Pond, we went left. The trail, a snowmobile trail in the winter, was well marked, wide and pretty dry.

Mokie, a purebred Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (yes, really!) loves to lie down in water. Mud pits, swamp, no matter. Randy took several pictures of her, in the various pits, puddles, streams and swamps she decided to take a dip in.

About a mile in, we came to a very pretty little water fall on Spencer creek. Randy and I climbed down to a shelf next to the waterfall so Kathy could take our picture. We then proceeded on until we got to a big swamp.
We could see the snow mobile trail sign way out in the middle but it was too deep for hikers. Returning back along the trail about 200 feet, the foot path veers left and a little uphill to go around the swamp.

We kept on till nearly noon and made our lunch stop at a stream. There were lots of good sized boulders to sit on right next to the stream. Of course, it's now black fly season and they swarmed our heads as soon as we stopped. Not biting yet, thank goodness. Also, someone had nailed short cross boards to a fallen tree and rigged up a thin hand line so people could cross the stream. None of us felt up to the challenge.

After lunch, we headed back the way we came and got out to the cars about 1:30pm. Fortunately, a stream was next to the trailhead and Gail coaxed Mokie into the stream to wash the majority of the mud off before getting her into the car. I think we hiked 4 or so miles and had a pretty good day out.

Another Hike to the Ledge

2009-04-27T19:38:00.003-07:00

It seems like we should have the process down by now. Not really. On Thursday, Randy and I decided to check out the hike from a frontal assault. Knowing of course, that many of our hiking friends are expected on the upcoming Sunday, we proceed.

We go the usual route, up our back road to the cut off up toward Little Gifford Mountain where the ledge is. I've mentioned this ledge in previous years and it's view over Northville and the Sacandaga.

This time, at the top of the sand bank, we cut right an start our bushwhack thru the woods going right to pass the cliffs and take an "easier" path up to the top of the mountain. The day, forcast for the 70's, is bright and clear. I estimate mid-80's at least. I've only packed 1 liter of water and before we get 1/4 up the mountain, I'm regretting the mistake.

We have in the group, Evie, an 80+ hiker who will hike my legs off, most of the group is over 60 and about 3 of us in the 50s. Also along, my nephew and his girl friend, in early 20's. She's 6 months preggers. There fore, my prediction on Thursday, when I was hanging from the uppermost cliff face, whining with fear, has come true. We don't want this group going straight up the cliff.

So, going up the mountain till we come to the cliff face, we circle around to the right. Not is all uphill. We pause many times to identify the earliest spring flowers and plants. I see yellow woods violets, blue cohosh, red trillium, carolina spring beauty, dutchman's breeches and wild oats in bloom. Trout lily,and other plants are sprouting and getting ready to bloom in these south facing hillsides. We also see remains of deer, obviously used as dinner for coyotes or other predators.

Finally, 2 hours into the hike we reach near the top of the mountain and can cant down toward our ledge. We're so close, it only takes a few minutes from our rest stop on a rock outcrop to the ledge.

Once there we have a marvelous view of the Sacandaga River valley with Northville in the near distance. We have eagles soaring in the wind currants of the cliff. Steve (my brother) does the traditional hot dog cook out on the ledge. The two dogs, (Steve's) Apothos and Neelix have totally enjoyed the hike but because of the cliff, we tie them to trees to keep them safe. They're no longer happy.

After our rest and lunch, we take the steep path down. Randy has made a new knot tied rope and tied it to a near by tree. We use it to climb down a steep part of the cliff. It's not too bad an just about everybody, with help from the rope, slides down the rock face on their butts. The terrain is steep enough and the beech leaves dry enough that we slide down those parts on the seat of our pants too.

The hike down took only an hour to the upward hike of 2 hours. Downward we were able to take the more direct path and no really interesting things were seen after the excitement of sliding down a cliff.

Oh, you want to know about the dogs? OK! The dogs were carefully handed down the cliff face, they hardly knew there was a fuss.

After so hot a day so early in the season, at least for us!, many of us napped at the end of the trip. An ice cream treat, not totally out of the question.

AT Trail Wedding

2009-04-06T10:45:00.007-07:00

I've spoken in the past about how I joined a group of intrepid hikers who were planning to thru hike the AT in 2008. As a refresher, Wendy Pacek organized our little group by placing an ad in the ATC magazine.

Her first respondent, Denny Libby, actually lived near her. They were able to do many training hikes together. By the time April 2008 rolled around, Denny had already proposed. They delayed the wedding till after they finished the trail. Unfortunately, physical injuries caused them to leave the trail.

The new plan, get married before hitting the trail in 2009 to finish the AT and start their new life as a couple. The wedding was Saturday, April 4th at the Quarry Gap shelter.

Stormy and positively miserable on April 3rd, by noon of the 4th, the sky was a clear blue and sunshine rained down on the festivities. Randy and I arrived at the trail head with no trouble after leaving home at 5am that morning. Friends were finishing up decorating the trail and the shelter.

Friends helping with the parking told us to turn right at the AT and follow the trail north to the shelter. The trail started up a small slope from the parking area and in about 200 feet or so, met the AT. The friends had decorated a small bush with plastic Easter eggs and a sign to keep going. Randy and I hike up the trail in very little time and found another of our little group, Grasshopper and his son Pup, already at the shelter. We chatted and relaxed while waiting for the rest of the wedding party.

Soon, everyone had arrived and the nice day and happy occasion, as well as the family reunion had everyone chatting easily. The funny story for this event was that by 1:55pm, we still didn't have the minister and maid of honor!
Wendy's brother-in-law and her sister were missing. Good thing there was cell phone service. Wendy's sister called and said, she didn't know where they were. To make a long story shorter, they had missed the Easter Egg bush and had continued straight onto the AT headed south. Eventually we were all reunited at the shelter and could begin the ceremony.

It was lovely with simple, quiet guitar music, readings on marriage from the bible by friends and the pastor and beautiful vows from the happy couple. As background, the wind sighing thru the trees and the small brook, which runs in front of the shelter, chuckling softly.

After the ceremony and congratulations passed all around, we all trekked back down the trail and headed to Shephardstown to the rennovated train station for the reception. The caterer did a great job as did the band, Don Oehser. It was a beautiful day and I'm so happy for Wendy (Tiger Bomb) and Denny (Katahdin Kid). May their trail be smooth and their water clean and still.

Sheeley Mountain

2009-03-22T18:48:00.005-07:00

The last winter hike of the Alpiners was the Sheeley Mountain snowshoe bushwack. According to the description: Sheeley is an unprepossessing little mountain of about 210 feet but fromt the top, if you look one way you can see Canada Lake and from the other way, see Caroga Lake. About 3 miles, most of it off trail.

Any hike in the Adirondacks this time of year is an adventure. You don't know if you'll get snow, mud or both. Randy and I met the rest of the group at 10:10am at the Caroga Lake coffee shop across from the post office. I was sorry to see a For Sale sign on the shop. A real loss to the community if it doesn't sell well. At any rate, Kathy, Gail, Nancy and Al were there as well as an new person, Allen as well as Randy and I. We got in our cars and spotted some cars at the north end of the trail then loaded everyone into the rest of the cars and went to the south end of the trail.

Unloading, we got started about 11am and hit a snow mobile trail for about 1/2 mile till we got to NYS land. Then put on snow shoes and took a sharp right into the woods. The snow was icy but firm so the walking was pretty easy, except of course for the uphill part. Because we were on the south side of the mountain, the snow was icy and as we got higher, less and less snow till we took off our snow shoes. Spring being what it is, some spots were very muddy and slippery. I did slip once but managed to avoid a messy mud mess.

Finally reached the summit and it was as promised, a view of both lakes. We lunched at the summit an Gail packed in a bottle of "Equinox" wine and some plastic cups to drink it in. A toast to the equinox and spring and a lovely hike. Randy took his usual group picture.

At about 1230 we packed up and back in snow shoes headed down the
north side of the mountain. Steep in parts, we were still able to walk down, no need for sliding on the seat of our pants this time.

We got back to the spotted cars about 1:15. The day started cloudy but turned sunny and windy at the end. Again, I can't think of a better way to spend my Sunday morning.

Chubb Lake

2009-03-14T13:16:00.006-07:00

We got together with Kathy and organized a last minute hike for today. We met at one end of the trail on Rt 10, just past the bridge over the West Branch of the Sacandaga. Kathy had Gail with her, and Randy and I were there of course. Gail and Randy and I left our cars at this end of the trail in a nice parking area. We loaded all the gear into Kathy's car and went about 1 mile up the road to the upper trail head.

The weather was in the teens this morning so the snow was frozen hard. The sun was shining and there was very little wind. A great day for a snow shoe. We got ourselves organized and hit the trail about 10am. We headed toward Chubb lake, intending to go to the cliffs near there. Randy and I were following Kathy and Gail, who have been to this location twice. We were following an old snowshoe trail and when we got to Chubb lake, realized someone was camping in the area as there was a bit of wood smoke in the air.

Trudging along, we came to some small cliffs which Randy took a picture of. Going by them, Kathy and Gail realized they had missed the trail they wanted that went up hill toward the cliffs. Since we were very close to the trail for Balancing Rock, we went there instead of the cliffs.

We had to cross a fair sized stream on a beaver dam. A little dangerous this time of year as the snow has been melting and refreezing and you never know when a snow bridge will give way. Anyway, we were safe in all of our snow bridge crossings today.

Finally, about 11am, we reached Balancing Rock. We took a lunch break there, enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather. Temps had reached 35+ since early morning. Done with lunch and our group picture we got on our way.

Our intention was to track back to the beaver dam and cross it, then head for the cliffs. The steep hill sides, especially the south facing ones, had become slippery. The warm sun melting the snow and making it less able to hold the grip of the snow shoe cleats. I fell once and Randy took a slide too but fortuneately, no injuries.

We came close, .1 mile fromt the cliffs but since it required a 180 foot climb to get there, we decided to just push on to the cars. We had a nice hike out, hiking along beside the West Branch of the Sacandaga. Very pretty today. We got back to the cars about 1215. We'll have to go back another time to see the cliffs but we had a good day out today.

Good Luck Lake Snow Shoe Hike

2009-03-08T13:39:00.002-07:00

Randy and I went snow shoeing today with our friends Kathy, Dan and Al, and our niece Emily. We were supposed to go on a bushwhack from Broomstick Lake to Nine Corner Lake but because of the rain last night, the hike leader and several of the hiking club dropped out. They were thinking the weather and snow conditions would be bad.
So when we all got to Nine Corner Lake trail head, we decided to go north on Rt 10 and hike to Good Luck Cliffs. I had never been there so what the hey.

We got to the trail head and got on our way about 10am. The snow was very soft, temps mid 40s and the sun was making a valiant effort to come out from behind the clouds. We signed in at the trail register; on this trail about 1/2 mile into the woods at a trail crossroads. We followed the snow machine trail to the point where we turned off and headed for Good Luck Cliffs.

Here the trail started climbing and with the warm weather, we soon were down to our tee shirts. The really soft snow made it hard to walk, even with the snow shoes. A little off the trail and we'd be in snow up to our hips. Usually someone would have to help you dig your snow shoe clear so you could pull your foot out of the hole.
Near the top of the cliffs, I fell into a spruce trap. Fortunately it was a small one but Dan had to help me dig my feet out so I could climb out.

Finally, we reached the top and had a very fine view of the area south and west of Good Luck Cliffs, including Spectacle Lake. We had a nice lunch in the sunshine.

We took the north side trail down and that was an adventure. The going is steep and the snow shoes couldn't get any traction so we ended up sliding down those spots on our butts. Lots of fun but scary! A good day out!

Snow Shoe: Murphy, Middle and Bennett Lakes

2009-02-17T06:41:00.003-07:00

Randy and I took advantage of another nice winter day and invited our hiking friend Kathy on a snow shoe hike. She brought along a new club member: Al.

We decided on hiking the Murphy, Middle and Bennett lake hike and we met on Creek Rd at the southern end of the trail. There, we left our car and Kathy drove us to the north end of the trail on Pumpkin Hollow Rd.

The trail, a snow machine route, was well packed down so we packed our snow shoes and hiked the trail, starting about 10am. There was lots of deer sign as well as racoon tracks. The day was perfect, bright sun, blue sky and perfect temperatures. I don't think we could have ordered a nicer day.

When we reached the north end of Murphy Lake the snow machines had veered off trail and either went across the lake or along the right shore. We decided to stay off the lake as there was quite a lot of sign of melting on the lake. So we strapped on our snow shoes and followed the trail around the end of the lake and along the left shore. As we hiked along, we saw old tracks of a moose! It didn't take long to get to the Murphy Lake lean-to, we were there about 10 minutes till noon.

At the lean-to I got the shelter log and signed in. While there was lots of sign that people have been at the shelter (snow machine tracks, people tracks and more trash than rightfully should be in the lean-to), the last entry in the log was from the local ranger in Janurary. We took a break, ate some lunch and got to know Al a little better.

About 1220 we picked up the trail, again snow machine packed, and started to Middle and Bennett lakes. What was nice about the trail this time of year is the normally very rocky trail was nicely covered with snow. Actually easier to hike this time of year! When we got the Bennett Lake we hiked down to the lake shore and took a final break. Kathy saw something out on the lake and snow shoed out to it. Turned out to be a dead deer, possibly taken down by coyote's but pretty well picked clean.

The last mile went quickly and about half way down the trail from Bennett lake we met a small family and their cairn terrier out for a walk to Bennett lake. This section was tricky as the trail is steep thru here and the hard packed trail had experienced several thaws and freezes, making it very slippery. We reached the Creek Rd trailhead with only 1 fall (Al) and lots of slipping, by 2pm. Kathy, using her GPS wrote to us later: "Thanks again for a fine trip on a fine day with fine company. The GPS says we did 7.6 miles. We reached our highest point at 4.6 miles. That was 1600 feet. We had climbed 370 feet to get there and we dropped 635 feet from there out to Pumpkin Hollow Rd." (I think she meant Creek Rd.)

I agree! A fine day out.

Snow Shoe to Auger Falls

2009-02-02T12:39:00.004-07:00

Randy and I decided, since the weather was predicted to be good on Sunday, 2/1/09, to do a snow shoe hike into Auger Falls from the east direction. This trail head is off of Rt 8, just north of Wells NY.

We invited Kathy, our usual hiking partner. Then decided to invite Emily and Haleigh. Haleigh couldn't go but Emily could. At the last minute, we also invited Steve. He had to borrow snow shoes and fortunately, Kathy had an extra pair. She invited her neice, Nancy.

We met at the corner of Rt 30 and Rt 8 at 1040 and drove the 2.5 miles to the trail head. The day was overcast but not windy and in the high 20's, so very comfortable for a snow shoe. We walked a plowed road .2 mile to the bridge over the East Branch of the Sacandaga and got to the start of the seldom used snow machine trail on the opposite side of the bridge. This trail goes all the way to Speculator, about 10 miles away.

We all put our snow shoes on but Randy and Steve. The trail was firm enough that they decided to hike in their boots. The trail was good, and very pretty, going through snow covered trees. At about 1.6 miles, we were about .3 mile from MacCumber Creek and were ready to take the sharp left (west) to Auger Falls.
The only trail was a deer path so Randy and Steve got their snow shoes on and I broke trail about 1/4 mile to an overlook, just upstream from Auger Falls. Since the weather has been cold, the snow has stayed pretty powdery. Even in show shoes, I was sinking to my knees. It made breaking trail pretty difficult. Since Kathy, Nancy and Steve had to get back, we decided not to push on but did take a quick lunch break.

Going back was very quick since all trail had now been broken, only 45 minutes to go about 1.7 miles. A good bit of exercise on a really good day for snow shoeing.

Good Luck Lake Snow Shoe Hike

2009-01-27T12:52:00.004-07:00

I can't believe how long it's been since my last hike. Arrgghh! Way too busy!

Anyway, the Alpiners scheduled a snow shoe hike for 25 January. Kathy and Gail led the group of 8 hikers (Dan, Dick, me, Randy, Evie and Nancy) and Brownie the chocolate Lab. The day was clear but cold and only a very little wind. Temps were about 20 degrees. Actually perfect snow shoe weather. We stopped at a trail head on Rt 10 next to the Sacandaga River just north of the Good Luck Lake outlet. We all got our snow shoes on and started out about 10am on a well used but unmarked trail. It was a fairly short, 1 mile or so hike to the north shore of the lake. We hiked along the north shore of the lake following a very faint trail, unbroken since the last snow fall.

Eventually we reached the westernmost end of the lake and found a snow machine trail. We followed that for a bit in the opposite direction we actually wanted to go, looking for a good lunching spot. Right on the edge of the lake was too cold with the wind coming across the lake, even with the sunshine, to have lunch. We did find a group of rocks and a fallen tree and made ourselves comfortable.

While lunching, we saw the first of several snow machines pass us by. This is a major snow mobile route and we expected to see quite a few during the trip. After lunch we packed up and headed north on the snow machine trail. At a major snow machine trail intersection we signed in at the trail register and then headed east on the intersecting trail.

Only 20 minutes later we were back on Rt 10 and the cars. We were done by about 1:15 or so.

Sect 29, West Fulton to Vrooman's Nose

2008-12-25T18:42:00.004-07:00

Oh my! I hadn't posted my last section of the Long Path Northern Excursion.

Kathy and I met up on December 15th to hike our last section. While it was pretty "poopy" in the Adirondacks, the temp in Middleburg was 53 degrees! No Snow! Wow. Pretty easy hiking. We started at the Patria Rd trailhead in West Fulton where we had left off the last hike.

There were multiple power outages across upstate NY, West Fulton was suffering from the outage as we started the hike. We could hear the house generaters from the trail head and saw multiple power trucks along the roads into West Fulton.

As we started across the field, I saw deer bounding away from us. The trail, of course, up hill to start and pretty much continued uphill for 3/4 or more of the entire trip. Overall, the route was abandoned farm land, like most of the last few sections. Many rock walls, and broken dams across streams.

We met a couple of hunters on after we left Pleasant Valley, just as we were finishing up a tea break. They hadn't seen a deer all day even tho we had seen plenty of sign of deer all morning.

The going was pretty good, with only a thin crust of now icy snow. We saw guys working on the power lines, seemingly in the middle of nowwhere but there were many dirt roads in the area they could have come in on.

After the power line and a long trek uphill, we hit the downhill side going toward Rt 30. Lots of blowdown here, making us skirt around to the side of the trail. Again, the reality of the trail didn't match the guide book entry. Good thing people had been thru recently with the aqua paint bucket.

Section 28, Long Path Doney Hollow to West Fulton

2008-11-30T12:40:00.003-07:00

Late November is always a tricky time of year to hike. The weather can be unpredictable and the temps can drop rapidly. However, Kathy and I had been following the weather for a few days and decided to try and walk off some of our Thanksgiving turkey on Saturday the 29th of November.

We agreed to meet at 7am at our usual spot, a Dunkin Donuts just north of Schoharie NY. The weather report the previous day called for partially clear skys for Saturday. When I opened the garage door at 6am, there was a 1/4 inch of snow on the ground and more falling. My stomach sank but I went ahead because the weather can be totally different even just 10 miles south of here.

Sure enough, as I drove south on Rt 30, the snow became sleet, the sleet became rain and as I crossed the Mohawk River into Fultonville, the rain stopped altogether. By 6:45am, I could see the clouds breaking to the east and a pink and orange sunrise coming up. I met Kathy and we proceeded to the West Fulton end of the trail to leave my car. We had hoped to add a couple extra miles to today's hike but couldn't find where the trail crossed Patria Rd. Oh Well. I left my car at the West Fulton end of Patria Rd and we headed off for the Doney Hollow trail head.

We found where we had left off our hike the last time and parked Kathy's car. We each had brought extra winter gear, just in case but there was no need for snowshoes, there was no snow at Doney Hollow. I did however take my shelter, backpacking stove and fuel, rain gear and snow pants and jacket, and extra socks. Better safe than sorry but it sure makes the pack heavier. I had long johns on under my hiking pants but the temps were in the 30's, probably high 30's so I didn't feel the need to wear my snow pants but I did have them in my pack too.

We started up the hill at 0810 and followed a pretty stream. All along the trail, and all day in fact, we followed mile after mile of old stone walls. Constructed from the local slate, they are a marvel of work, still standing after all this time. At elevation 1800 we had snow on the ground but even at 2000ft, we never really had more than a couple of inches of snow. The only problem was the moderatly warm temps, above freezing, caused the snow to pack up on my gaiter straps and I had to keep knocking the balled up snow off of the bottom of my feet every hundred feet or so.

Fortunately, the guide book, at least for this section, was pretty close to the mark and we had no trouble following the trail. We had lunch at noon at the Rossman Hill lean to. It was in good shape and pretty clean. Kathy signed us into the shelter log, in this case located on the outside of the leanto in a little box built for it.

On our way again at 1230, we passed an area that must have had several farms because the trail runs between two stone walls. The space is about 8 feet apart and I thought it was dueling farmers till we came to a cross roads where a similar lane crossed the one we were on. I thought the lanes a little narrow for carts or wagons but Kathy called them carriage lanes. All wooded now, I wonder what those farmer's would think now to have all their hard work abandoned.

Coming down off of Rossman's Hill is extremely steep and in the day's conditions, very slippery. The ground was frozen solid and the snow had melted in and left everything icy. However, the trail runs beside a series of cascades, partially frozen and very pretty. Well worth the hike. We never did see the ruins at the bottom and before we knew it we were out on Sawyer Hollow Rd, going into West Fulton.

We found the Peter Smith church, formerly of Ripley's Believe It or Not fame, just before we reached the center of the village. We lucked out, the current owner has made the building into a private residence and the owner's son and daughter-in-law were working on the front entry porch when we went by. They invited us up and we had a very nice chat with them for about 15 minutes, learning about the church and the changes it's gone thru.

All in all, we had a great hike.

Chase Lake Hike with Alpiners

2008-11-23T15:00:00.004-07:00

Oh boy! The forcast for today was clear, sunny and in Albany, 29 degrees farenheit at noon!

That did not deter 12 very hardy souls from being at the trailhead at 10am! My niece Emily and her friend Haighlie, 12 and 13 respectively were along as well as the dog, Brownie, a very happy chocolate lab.

Also on the trip were Brownie's person, Dan, Janet and Jim, Evie, Evelyn, Kathy, Gail and Randy and myself. As noted in previous posts, Chase Lake trail is pretty level and in these conditions, very clean. By that I mean everything was frozen, so no mud or wet. No bugs. In the latter part of the trail tere was a very thin covering of snow. We left the trailhead at noon and were at the lean-to by 1130.

Lunch, due to the cold, was a relatively quick affair and we headed back to the trailhead by noon. Throughout the trip we had both sunshine and a light snow or frost fall. With the sun shining thru it, it seemed like we were inside a giant snow globe. It was very sparkly and pretty. The trip back was quick and we were at the cars by 1pm.

LP Sect 27: West Conesville to Doney Hollow

2008-11-06T14:01:00.004-07:00

On Tuesday November 4th, Kathy and I met at 0800 and caravaned south on Rt 30 to drop my car at the Doney Hollow end of the day's section. This is on West Kill Rd, off of Rt 30 just outside of North Blenheim. We loaded up into Kathy's car and headed south again, turning off of Rt 30 onto Rt 13 and into Gilboa and Conesville. We found a great place to park and we were on the trail by 0910. The 1st part of the trail is on the road and goes by the Gilboa Dam, and a little bit later down the road, a display of petrified trees, found in the 1800's.

We stayed on the road for a little over a mile then the trail turned onto an abandoned road running along Schoharie Creek. Note that while this body of water is named a creek, it is really a fair sized river. This part was about a mile then the trail again becomes a road walk on Rt 13 (Stryker Rd) for about a mile. Here we passed a rock overhanging the creek and we took some pictures here too. When we got to the Nickerson Park Campground, we continued past on the road as the guide book indicated. We had gone to the club website to check for any trail updates or reroute info as the guidebook indicated that something was being worked on. We found no update information. As the guidebook said, we climbed the hill and at the top, sure enough, great views of the whole valley. We started down the other side and near the bottom, I saw a painted over blaze on a tree. We consulted the guide book but sure enough, the blaze was painted over. We've been thru this before. So we trek back up the hill and now see on this side of the road(we had been walking facing traffic), lots of painted over blazes. So we hike all the way back to the Nickerson Campground where we finally spot the new blazes leading into the campground. We missed them the 1st time as they were on the opposite side of the road from where we were walking. Total distance on the road past the campground and back was probably a mile.

So we go into the campground and it turns out this is a huge place. The Schoharie creek runs right along the campground and the trail follows the creek.
We stopped, still in the campground about 1130 for a short break in a juniper wooded area on a slate outcropping of rock overlooking the river. Nice rest area for us and a really nice camping spot in the campground.

Once we get to the campground border, we seem to be on NYS land. There was a sign posted that the Mine Kill Falls was about 2 miles away and the trail time would be 2 hours. That seemed excessive to us but we proceeded. Sure enough, the trail meanders through the woods but along the steep hillsides with lots of gully crossing required. We also had to go out of our way (still on the trail) to get up streams far enough to have the streams crossable. It was a long 2 miles and it took us a little less than 2 hours but we did have another short rest at Mine Kill Falls once we got there. This is a really pretty water fall.

So we climb up out of the gorge and back to Rt 30 where we walk across the bridge (currently under construction) and find where the trail goes back down and follows the gorge again for awhile, just on the other side from where we had been. Now we're in the Mine Kill Falls park. We hike along, still doing a bit of gully crossing and another small water fall appears along the path.

We get up to the park entrance and at a maintenance building, about 2pm, we decide to take a break and eat our lunch. This should be the halfway point but the trail reroute thru the woods has added milage. After half an hour and some food, we feel better and start out again. This part of the trail is level and field-like. Well maintained so we are able to go at a good pace. The trail eventually passes by the Lansing Manor. I'll have to go back sometime for the tour. Since it's getting late and sundown is coming fast, we keep moving. We pass by the smaller, Blenheim-Gilboa dam and follow the trail thru a pine woods to the creek side again where the summer's growth of grass and river bottom weeds have fallen over and make the hiking a little hard. Eventually we reach Rt 30 again at the edge of North Blenheim. The trail takes a reroute again and takes us past the water fall and up the street toward an old cemetary. Here the trail turns into the woods again, straight up a steep slope. Once at the top, we cross some fields and eventually come out onto West Kill Rd.

We hike up West Kill Rd and realize the trail goes into the woods again on our left. We declined to participate as sundown is nearly upon us. Continuing our hike on the road, we see the painted over blazes. At another point, we see the trail come out from the left and cross over into the woods on the right. Again, we declined to participate. Eventually, passing a beaver pond on the right, we come to my car about 4:30pm, where the trail comes out of the woods on the right and crosses again into the woods on the left. We were checking out the terrain on the left and the trail looked like it did quite a bit of running along a steep hillside. We don't know how much more milage the woods walk would have beenor even if we would have made it to the car before it got dark.

Kathy checked our milage from her GPS when she got home. The hike was supposed to be 10.75 miles, we did 14.2 miles. Given we did an extra mile on the road near the campground, we figure we covered the woods walk we missed at the end. At any rate, it was a good hike, even with the extra milage. Lots of pretty spots along the trail.

Chase Lake

2008-11-03T19:50:00.002-07:00

On the spur of the moment; weather being good and we actually had a day free of appointments; Randy and I decided to check out the trail to Chase Lake.

I have volunteered to be a hike leader on 11/23 for a hike to Chase Lake, I don't remember being there before. However, when we got to the trail head, I mentioned to Randy that the trail seemed familiar. We couldn't have asked for a better day. Sunshine and wide, smooth trail made it a dream hike. No breeze made the day, while cool, perfect hiking weather.

We got to Chase Lake and the leanto in good time and found the area to be clean and the leanto, clean but a little past it's prime. Many of the shingles have slipped and inside, you can see where the rain is coming in and causing damage. Otherwise a good place. The lake itself is ringed with growth, making it hard to get to the lake but that has not deterred past vistors. There was both a row boat and a canoe at the site, tho no oars could be found.

We had lunch at the leanto and headed back to the trailhead the way we came in. As we expected, we missed the quick turn at the end of the trail, heading on the old woods road to the back of a hunting camp and had to turn around and backtrack to the right turn. For a quick hike, this cannot be beat. An easy hike for beginners or those just out for a nice walk in the woods.

Long Path Sect 34; Indian Ladder to Rt 146

2008-10-25T07:53:00.003-07:00

On the 23rd, Kathy and I did the northernmost section of the Long Path Excursion. The day started cold and cloudy but cleared up nicely and we had a perfect hiking day.

We started at Indian Ladder picnic area and headed north. The trail was wide and smooth and ran through the woods. There was only one hill to climb so the hiking was very easy. A peculiarity of this section was the many fissures in the ground. The escarpment had many cracks and they ran a long way from the edge. Kathy managed to get a picture of one. We had a great view spot about 3 miles into the hike.

At noon, we reached the road and were completely confused. The guide book talked about passing thru a quarry but we never saw a quarry. We hiked back into the woods and found a nice spot to have lunch and examined the guidebook map and directions. As far as we could tell, the trail had been rerouted, cutting about a mile off of the trail and completely by-passing the quarry. So we missed the rock formation and a chance to pick up some fossils.

After lunch we finished the road hike part of the trail. We enjoyed looking at the houses and the fall plant colors. Overall, Kathy's GPS indicated we hiked 6.8 miles.

Long Path Sect 33: East Berne to Thatcher Park

2008-10-21T12:06:00.005-07:00

On Sunday the 19th, Kathy and I planned to hike section 33 of the Long Path. We managed to talk Randy and Gail into coming with us. We parked my car at the Indian Ladder picnic area parking lot in Thatcher Park, and we positioned her car at Stage Rd where Kathy and I had left off our last Long Path hike. Hiking north was a road walk, and having conflicting information on whether the Roemer's Point area was still open to the public, we hiked the .9 miles of Elm Drive to the southern edge of the Roemer property. It turns out, the trail is closed so we had to hike back to the Elm Drive and Long Road intersection.

It was a nice day so we didn't mind too much. It took us a minute or two but finally deciphered the blazing, leading north on Elm (vs South on Elm to the Roemer property.).

This took us to Beaver Dam Rd, which we followed for about a mile before reaching the trail at John Boyd Thatcher State Park. We missed the whole section from 2.35 mile point to 6.35 mile point but we spoke with a Ranger when we entered the park. It turns out that there is a way from Beaver Dam Rd up toward Roemer's Point but the property has been permanently closed to the public due to hiker misuse. It's no longer part of the Long Path.

Anyway, finally in the woods, we took a lunch break at a small stream just before the Upper Knoweles Flat Picnic Area. There was a picnic table beside the stream and out of the wind and in a sunny spot. With the water gently gurgling in the background, a very nice place to lunch. After lunch, we hiked on to the parking area Escarpment overlook. This is incredibly impressive. From this Helderberg Escarpment a person can see north to the Adirondacks and east to the Green Mountains of Vermont. The trail follows the escarpment across the parking area and then down a park path to the Indian Ladder trail. This leads down the face of the escarpment to a couple of water falls the hiker walks under and then back up the escarpment face.
Down and up both on metal stairways installed for the purpose of getting down to the undercut face of the escarpment. Many people were out on the beautiful Sunday with lots of kids having a blast!

Shortly thereafter we were back at the parking area where we left our car. We finally figured we hiked about 8.8 miles on a beautiful fall day and saw incredible views of the Hudson River Valley to boot. A good day out.

Fall Trip to the Ledge

2008-10-06T10:48:00.005-07:00

Randy and I decided that since we haven't been up to the ledge yet this year, we'd take a trip up. The weather was forcast to be nice on October 4th so we called my brother Steve to see if he wanted to go with us. He was good for a trip so we were on.

We met at 10am in our backyard and Steve brought his son, Justin. They also brought one of their dogs, Apothis. The day was perfect, sunny, cool and this area is at peak fall color. We moved right along, up the Winnie Rd and right at the base of the mountain. Randy brought along our GPS and he took a way point at the sand pit.

Steve headed us up the mountain. We moved around the base of the cliffs as usual but once at the top of the cliffs, the full year's growth of foliage confused our usual landmarks.

It turned out that we over shot upwards of 300 feet, going pretty much to the top of the mountain and several hundred feet west too. We had to back track and even when we were right on top of the ledge, we still had a hard time recognizing it. We've always been there in the spring, before the leaves had grown out. Just goes to show I guess.

Anyway, we had a nice picnic lunch on the ledge. Randy took several pictures of the view down the river valley.

On the way down, we again had trouble with the increased vegetation and ended up going way too far to the east and ended up backtracking westward to the sand pit. Once there, it was an easy hike out. The whole trip was only 3.5 - 4 hours but we were glad we had the GPS along to make backtracking a little easier.

Section 32 Long Path Excursion

2008-10-06T10:35:00.003-07:00

Finally, out for a hike! Kathy and I met at our usual location, Dunkin Donuts just off of Rt 88 about 0830 and headed off to Albany County. We parked my car at our finishing point and went to the southern end of the day's trail between Bern and Knox.

We had a great day for hiking; cool, clear and the leaves were starting to turn color. This section, about 9 miles, has about 3 miles of road walking but the traffic was so light that it wasn't a big deal. We enjoyed looking at the houses and farms along the road. The woods walk was even nicer. There were 3 very nice stream crossingson bridges, here's a picture of one.

Only one or two boggy spots near the end of the trail. We spotted a couple of late ripening purple flowered raspberry, which Kathy knew as thumbberry. There were 4 berries left, perfectly ripe. We each ate 2. Very nice flavor!

In the red pine section we found where trail maintainers had tossed a pile of sticks. It seemed like a whole village of chipmunks have nested there. On top of the sticks was a big pile of pine cones. Pretty cool.

We finished the day's hike about 2:30pm. Next hike on this trail is section 33. Heading toward Thatcher Park and Indian Ladder.

Middle Branch Lake Hike

2008-08-27T07:10:00.004-07:00

So, we decided to go on Sunday's hike with the Herkimer Alpiners. The lake is in the HaDeRonDah Wilderness area in the northwestern part of the Adirondacks.

The area is 2.5 hours away from where we live so we had to leave at 6am to get to the trailhead by 9am. We met the rest of the group there: Kathy, Gail, Jim, and Evie. For a change this summer the day was clear, sunny and hot. We got started at 9:30am and boy, what a nice change for me. The trail was pine needle covered, soft and not too mountainous. Just a couple ridges to climb, nothing strenuous. It took us about 2.5 - 3 hours to hike the 4+ miles into the Middle Branch Lake lean-to. Taking our time and enjoying the day.

We lunched at the lean-to. It was on a point of land into the lake and we had a nice breeze to keep the late season mosquitoes at bay. The lean-to was in good shape and we enjoyed reading the shelter log's past entries.

Eventually we had to head back to the cars so at 1pm we hit the trail back. On the way we all chatted about this and that. It turns out that Randy and I were the youngest members of the group. Evie, at 78 years old, the oldest. She was amazing. She had no trouble at all keeping up; leaping giant mud pits in a bound or two, climbing the ridges and hardly broke a sweat that I could see. Makes me hope I do as well at 78!

Anyway, we were back at the cars by 4pm. The day was humid so we were all glad to be riding home in air conditioned cars. This area has a lot of trails, I may have to get the guide book.

Day 5 NH White Mountains 8/8/08

2008-08-10T11:05:00.004-07:00

Again, out of the hut by 0800. The weather report is the same as always, cloudy, possible showers, possible thunderstorms. Mt Madison was looming right outside the windows of the hut. This is today's challenge. The climb starts immediately and of course it's steep and a boulder field. By 0830, several folks who stayed at the hut with me passed me by on the way up. I got to the top (5363 ft) at 0900 and took the family pics of the group who passed me. Three teens also showed up. Family and teens were all peak bagging. One of the family group took my pic at the elevation sign, then I packed up and headed down the other side of the mountain.

Not too far down it started to rain so I pulled out my rain jacket and put it on. A little while later, Luana, Patty and Lisa, hiking with Matt (a fellow celiac) breezed by me. I just cannot go fast on this rock. The back side of the mountain was just as rocky as the front and I had difficulty getting over these boulders. I'm just terrified of slipping; falling; breaking a bone. So, excruciatingly slowly, I work my way down the mountain. The 1.7 miles took me 2 1/2 hours. Then I was out of the alpine area and into the boreal zone of spruce and balsam woods. The going is still very steep and I struggle going down and not slipping on the slick rocks and ledges. The ground is so saturated that at one point I slid in the mud about 5 feet, missing rocks and roots before I regained my balance.

The rain continues and I'm soaked thru. The trail is a streambed and my boots are fully saturated. At the 3 mile point (of an almost 8 mile trail day), I finally reach the 1st of several trail junctions. I've been hiking 4 hours. There's no place to sit and rest; everything is wet. I'm a little tired and hungry but I don't want to sit and eat in the rain. Also, if I stop, I'll get cold. I'm also worried about my slow pace. I don't stop to eat or rest, I push on.

The trail is still a running stream with lots of rocks and ledges to climb down. I'm still struggling. Several large creeks are full to the brim. I just wade across as I can't get the boots any more wet than they already are and the rocks usually used as stepping stones are all under water. I'm going at a faster pace than before but still not making any great speed. I cross the Mt Washington Auto Rd and reach the Old Jackson Rd trail. There there's a sign that gives the milage for Pinkham Notch as 1.9 miles. Big Hooray! It's 3:30pm. I may get to the lodge by 4:30pm.

The first 1/2 mile of the trial is some climbing and descending but then becomes a fairly level, gravelly track. There are still streams to cross and the trail is still a stream and there are still lots of mud holes but the going is now so much easier. Finally, I round a turn and there's Pinkham. I made it in at 1635. I dump a lot of gear in the trunk of the car and get my dry clothes and shoes to take into the lodge with me. I'm so happy to get in out of the rain and get clean and dry.

So that's the end of this adventure. Only a few scrapes and bruises from a fall on a slick rock today. I'll have to see about my toes tomorrow. They're too water logged now to see what kind of beating they took today. Tomorrow I'll have better perspective on the trip and be glad I did it.

Big Lesson Learned: Bring my gaiters and rain pants!

Day 4 NH White Mountains 8/7/08

2008-08-10T10:46:00.004-07:00

Today, an A-Ticket ride.

Got up this AM and it's cloudy, not raining. The weather report is the same as always; cloudy, 40's, chance of showers, possible thunderstorms. I decide to go to Madison Hut. I eat, pack up and get out of the hut by 8am. The trail is good at the start. By that I mean it's not wet, not a running stream, not too rocky. I trudge up Mt. Washington, just a gentle breeze on an overcast, foggy day. I get to the summit right behind a mother/son team. He's peak bagging NH 46 highest mountains. They took a pic of me at the summit sign and I took one of them. They're taking a diffferent trail down than I am so we said our good byes.

An older gentleman, Mike, who was in the Lakes hut last night was at the summit too. We started down together, but he soon out paced me. I met the church youth group at the bottom of Mt. Washington. They had taken the cut out path around the mountain and we met where the two trails link back up. I seesawed back and forth along the trail with them and with Mike, all day. I re-met Mike at the foot of Mt. Clay about 1130 when I had stopped for a quick lunch break. He had taken the loop trail to summit the mountain and was rejoining the main trail. He pulled ahead again and I rejoined him again after he summitted Mt Jefferson. I passed the youth group at this point too, having a lunch break.

At about 1pm I started hearing thunder but the trail; a never ending boulder field since Mt Washington, cannot be gone across quickly. By now my toes are really protesting. Mike left me to go on the Mt. Adams loop trail and summit that mountain. At the 1 mile marker for Madison hut, the AMC trail maintainers did a lot of work arranging the stones on the trail so they were almost like paving. Sweet! A half mile went quickly. Finally, from high on the ridge, I can see into the little valley where Madison Hut is snuggled, still 1/2 mile away. It was clear enough for me to snap a pic from the ridge. One minute later the fog rolled back in. I got to the hut about 1515 and my 3 new trail friends, Patty, Lisa and Luana, were already there. This hut has two main bunk rooms, no assigned rooms with 2 - 6 bunks in them, and we just pick any empty bunk.

Let me note here that each evening, the huts were pretty much full of guests. Many families with children, youth groups, scouts, etc. The AT is not the only trail to the huts, there are several and most are only 3 - 5 miles long. Makes it easy for families to reach the huts. This hut had 4 tier bunks and the kids were having a blast racing up and down the ladders.

I hung out all my wet stuff from the day before so it can continue to dry more. I know I've taken more than my fair share of pegs but I'm hoping the wet clothing doesn't mold in the plastic baggies before I get home. The stuff I wore today is mostly dry and will be only damp in the morning. I have 1 pair of dry socks and sock liners left. The boots are mostly dry. I'll at least start the day relatively dry.

I met several thru hikers this evening. SOBO- MacGyver (girl) and Godzilla (they're a couple) NOBO - Tangent and Leonidas Shadow Caster.

Day 3 NH White Mountains 8/6/08

2008-08-10T10:35:00.004-07:00

An E-Ticket Day!

I was awake at 6am. I stayed in my bunk waiting for the 0630 wake up call. The hut croo made me corn meal mush, fruit and yogurt and eggs for breakfast. I was packed up and out the door by 0750. The trail began an immediate ascent but not too steep or for too long. I was above tree line in an hour and stayed there till I got to Lake of the Clouds hut. The wind and rain were brutal. The wind drove the rain sideways and with such force it felt like ice. The wind blew so hard, it came close to knocking me over, only my hiking poles were keeping me upright. (I found out the next morning that the wind speed was 25 - 30 MPH with gusts up to 57mph) Near the top of Mt Franklin, 3 women (Patty, Lisa and Luana), whom I met last night at Mizpah hut, passed me on the way to Lakes hut. Soon, I got to a sign post letting me know the hut was 2 miles away. Not a lot of climbing in this section. If not for the weather, this would have been a great hike. When I had a second to glance around, the alpine area reminded me of the Scottish heather highlands. But there wasn't time or good opportunity to dally.

I was totally soaked thru, even boots were completely saturated. The trail at this point was fairly level and straight so I was able to pick up the pace. I was getting tired and it would be time for a break in gentler climes than this, however, I decided to push on to the hut. The general estimated time for this hike is 4 hours. So I guessed I would be there about 1230. Visibility was poor and I got to another signpost directing people to a loop trail going up another mountain. This is for those peak baggers who "collect" ascents but I stayed on the AT (also called the Crawford Trail). Almost by surprise I came upon the hut. Turns out I had picked up the pace considerably because it was only 1130!

Inside the hut I was streaming water and then realized my pack cover was gone. Gone with the wind; LOL! So, once dry and getting warm, I sat with Lisa, Patty and Luana. I mentioned my pack cover. It turns out someone found it and passed it to them and they brought it to the hut. Happy Day! So more and more people are piling into the hut. It's going to be a full house tonight.

Day 2 NH White Mountains 8/5/08

2008-08-10T09:27:00.005-07:00

I woke up early. I had trouble sleeping last night; too excited I guess. I had a quick shower and got dressed in my hiking stuff. I was ready for breakfast at 0630. My room mate, Jenny, was up when I got back so I could pack up. The forcasted sunshine didn't appear, it's raining. I caught the shuttle at 0800 and got to the Webster Cliffs Trail head at 0930.

I got to the top of the Cliffs (2400ft of elevation) about 1130. This turned out to be the driest part of the day. I had a sit down lunch and while there, met a father/daughter hiking team. They took my pic at the top of the cliffs. At 1215 I got started on my way, still going up to the top of Mt Webster. The day was spent in a lot of rock scrambling and steep spots. It was 5pm before I got to Mispah Hut, soaked thru from the all afternoon rain.

A bit about the huts. The huts are large structures, holding 80 - 100 guests each night plus hosting any thru-hikers that come in for the night. Each hut is staffed by 3 - 6 croo (yes, that's how they spell it). The croo checks people into the hut, does the cooking and cleaning and packs out the trash and packs in the fresh food. Most of the croo are college grads with degrees in hard science and when they aren't taking care of guests, they're doing environmental, atmospheric or other research at the hut sites. Mispah hut is in the boreal part of the range but Lakes of the Clouds and Madison Springs Huts are both in the alpine area of the mountain range. The huts are very green, using solar panels for electical power for lights. Toilets are primarily composting toilets, everything that can be is composted and the rest of the trash is packed out by the croo.

Dinner is at 6pm and served family style. There is usually some sort of program given at 8pm. This night, a thru hiker called Tennessee, spoke about being a thru hiker. He was at the hut on a work for stay option. Being the evening's speaker was his job. For it, he got a bunk and dinner and breakfast. Lights out is 9:30pm and everyone is in their bunk and asleep.

Day 1 NH White Mountains 8/4/08

2008-08-10T09:20:00.004-07:00

So, I left home at 0930 and headed to New Hampshire. The ride was uneventful and got there around 1530. I had no trouble checking in. The Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, Joe Dodge Lodge, was full up so I had a roommate in our 2 bed (bunkbed) room. At 6pm a family style dinner was served. At dinner, around huge 10 person tables, I sat and talked with a woman teacher, a South Bound (SOBO) thru hiker (Card Shark) and a woman who was there with her husband and 2 small children. We had a nce chat about hiking, where we're all from, etc.

After dinner, I went back to my room and my room mate, Jenny, was in. She's from Boston and is here doing day hikes using Pinkham Notch as a base camp. Tomorrow I catch the 0800 shuttle. I'm pretty excited.

New Start to NPT

2008-07-13T08:38:00.003-07:00

So I signed up for a hike on the proposed new start to the Northville - Lake Placid trail hosted by Norm from the Schenectady Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club. The hike, a bushwhack, class B2B, started in Gifford's Valley, very near where I live. I met the group there at 9am. My friend Kathy was there as well as Norm and 3 guys I hadn't met before; Paul, Mike and Dave. So we got ourselves arranged and off we went at about 9:15am. The route goes past Mud Lake, which I've mentioned in previous blogs but this time we went up the old logging road on the NYS land just to the south of the route on an old farm/camp road I usually use. This particular trail is also mentioned in Bill Ingersoll's book of trails.

This route has some temporary trail marking of surveyor's tape and some can lids nailed to trees but the markers are irregular and easy to miss.Anyway, the trail to Mud Lake, by any direction is all uphill and with the humidity and heat of the day, we were all hot and sweaty by the time we got to the lake. We took a fairly long water break and we were also rewarded with a lot of wild blueberries, ripe and ready to pick.

We followed the lake edge to the north and to it's outflow then the bushwhack began in earnest. The route we followed took us thru fairly open woodlands over fairly level land. At 3.1 miles we got to a gorge area where the falls were but the low water levels made it less than dramatic this time of year. We reached West Stony Creek at noon and a short trek downstream took us to the island where the crossing bridge for the NPT is proposed to be. We lunched there at the edge of the water. We spotted a small, pink, orchid looking plant in the rocks that in spring would be underwater. I checked my Wildflowers of the Adirondacks and I believe it is a Rose Pogonia. The picture I took of it came out blurry so I won't include it here.

We left at 1pm and came back via a route that took us by some cliffs, north of our trail to the creek, about a mile from West Stony Creek. We then headed back to our original trail and returned to Mud Lake. It was 4pm by the time we got back to the trailhead and the hot, humid day made us all glad for the coolers of ice water waiting for us in the cars. All in all, a good hiking day.

2 day Overnight with niece

2008-07-11T11:42:00.005-07:00

So, the leader (Georgia) of the 4H club I volunteer for has a daughter, Haleigh. Last year as the year end finale of our hiking project, I took the leader and Haleigh and 3 of my brother's kids (2 girls and a boy) out on an overnight hike. My neice Emily, and Haleigh became good friends. So this year I promised to take them out again.

This year, Randy decided to come along on our overnight hike. Haleigh (12), Emily (11), Randy and I did a 2 day hike thru the Adirondack Siamese Ponds Wilderness area. We started on July 9th (Wednesday) by meeting at my house and loading Emily (who stayed overnight with us) into Georgia's van, and leading them to the 11th Mountain trailhead on Rt 8. Then, loading all of the rest of the gear into the van, Georgia drove us up to Long Lake and the John's Pond traihead. We got there about 9am and after some "start of the trail" pictures, we headed off.

The day was overcast, hot, muggy and mosquito laden. Good thing we had lots of repellant with us. The John's Pond trail was wide, soft and easy to hike; obviously a well used trail. We were really moving along. We turned right (south) onto the John Pond Crossover trail after a bit and what a difference. This trail is obviously not a popular trail. While well marked with trail markers, the trail itself was very overgrown; almost a bushwhack. This slowed us down quite a bit. When we finally got down to Puffer Pond, we decided to take a water break (it was well after noon) at the Puffer Pond shelter. Emily made an entry in the shelter log while I studied the map.

We left the shelter after about 25 minutes and headed east on the Puffer Pond trail toward the Old Farm Clearing. This trail was in pretty good condition but in several places, overgrown with some very prickly, stinging plants. I got a lot of "pricker rash" on my legs. There were several boggy spots and both Emily and I got our feet soaking wet and muddy. It rained on us a few times during the day, giving us a quick respite from the mosquitos but as soon as it stopped raining, they were right back on the attack.

It was about 5pm by the time we got to Old Farm Clearing. The guide book talked about several informal camping spots around the clearing but we couldn't find any. A little dissappointing to 2 tired (and 2 tired adults) little girls. However, they were little troopers and never uttered a complaint. We headed south on the East Branch Sacandage trail and after a few hundred yards, came to a fairly open spruce "orchard". These trees were extremely tall so I assume fairly old but the area was the most clear of underbrush so we decided to camp there.

We pulled off our packs and cleared enough downed wood from the ground to set up our tents. Randy took all of our empty water bottles and headed back to the spring at Old Farm Clearing to get water. I worked with the girls on setting up my 2 person backpacking tent for them. This tent was complete with floor, bug netting and rain fly. They also helped me set up my ultralight shelter as a lean-to. That made it big enough for both Randy and I to sleep under. Not good for keeping bugs away but good to keep the dew off and any pine needles that happened to fall during the night.

Randy came back with the water and while he and the girls built a small fireplace of rocks, I worked on treating all the water he brought back. We all enjoyed the small fire while I boiled water to add to all of our dehydrated meals. While pouring Haleigh's water, the top of her pot popped off and splashed my right ankle with boiling water. I was quick enough to pull the hot, wet wool sock away from my skin. Fortunately, I didn't even get red skin. The girls ate some of their own meals then traded. They made such a feast that they didn't want the s'mores they had brought along. By the time we got dinner cleaned up and food bags hung it was 8:30pm and the girls hit the sack. They were out like lights.

I went back to the spring with empty water bottles so we'd have enough water for breakfast and to start hiking with the next day. When I got back I treated the water and climbed into my sleeping bag. It was actually a little too warm for sleeping bags but the mosquitos were so thick, I preferred being in the bag to being eaten alive. We had a perfect view of the sky, thru the trees, to the west and were rewarded with the most beautiful sunset of pink and orange and robins egg blue. What a great way to end a day.

The next day Randy and I were up early. We didn't sleep well because of the mosquitos. Randy got out of his sleeping bag at one point and put his head at the other end of the shelter. The slope of the ground we were on made that position better for him for sleeping. He pulled the sleeping bag over himself due to the heat but by morning, he was covered with bites.

We heated water for tea and each had a cup. There's nothing like a hot cup of tea in the morning. By then it was pretty light and we got the girls up about 6am. More water was heated for hot chocolate for Emily. Haleigh doesn't need a hot drink in the morning. Both girls munched pop tarts and other such treats for breakfast while I made Randy and I some hot cereal with dried fruit and nuts for our breakfast. We did clean up and packing up in really quick time. We scattered the ashes from the camp fire and scattered the stones as well and then by 7am, we were ready to hit the trail again.

The East Branch Sacandaga trail is well traveled and we were moving right along. About 2 miles into the hike, Randy said, "There's a moose!" The rest of us were too slow, all we saw was a large, brown shape moving into the woods. When we got up to the place it was, all that were left were the tracks. Shortly after, Haleigh saw a small, brown snake. She said she could have donw without that. Other than another snake, later on the trail, that's the only "large" wildlife we saw. The girls, both days, entertained themselves spotting orange and green salamanders and different sizes and colorings of the woods toads.

By 11:30am we were 2 1/2 miles from the end of the trail and stopped for a lunch break at a bend in the E. Branch of the Sacandaga river. We climbed down the bank to a sloping rock shelf where we could stretch out and enjoy watching the tiny fish in the water. We stayed there nearly an hour. While there, we saw a large group of young men, Boy Scouts perhaps, heading north on the trail. They didn't see us at first and when the girls called out "Hello", one boy was so startled he tripped and fell down. Not hurt, he called out hello too. There was much excitement among them to see us down by the water. A little later a family group and their dog went by, also north bound, on an apparent day hike. Lots of friendly helloing there too. These were the 1st people we'd seen since we started.

After lunch we climbed back up the bank and headed south again. It didn't take us too long to go the rest of the distance to the trailhead. We were there by about 1:30pm. We took "end of the trail" pictures and promised Haleigh and Emily a copy of all of the pics we had taken. Haleigh is using the pictures to finish her Hiking Project book for this year to enter in the county fair.

Randy ended up with multiple bug bites, 2 blisters and he'll probably lose a toe nail from a toe hitting the end of his shoe. Randy found the hike interesting but "not his cup of tea". He prefers to just day hike. Overall, the girls both had a good time and are already talking about doing it again. Me, I'm going hiking on Saturday, to see the new start to the Northville-Lake Placid trail. Stay tuned for the next report!

Day 6 Long Trail 2008

2008-06-24T10:43:00.002-07:00

No one came in last night so I had the cabin to myself. At 2030 last night I hit the sack and by 2100, a huge thunderstorm came roaring thru. I had a great ligntening show thru the windows. The cabin was snug and dry and I was asleep in no time. I was again awake at 0500. I got up and did my usually morning routine and was packed up and out the door by 0720. It did take me till 0745 to get back up to the Long Trail and on I went. This was the toughest day of all. The 1.9 miles to the Theron Dean shelter, which I had considered yesterday of doing instead of stopping at Glen Ellen, was a grueling agony of steep descents. It took me over 2 hours to go that 1.9 miles. It was raining that morning and all the roots and rocks and bedrock were dangerously slippery. The continual need to stretch as far as I could in my step downs made my right knee begin to hurt. Is it a medical term to say my knee was hyper contracted? Anyway, by 1015 it had stopped raining and the sun was actually starting to come out. With the elevation drop it had warmed up so I took about 5 minutes to get out of my rain jacket, get a drink of water and get going again. The remainder of the days 4.1 miles continued to be grueling right down to the highway. At one point I was hyper ventilating and close to tears, shifting from foot to foot, exhausted with trying to figure out how to get down the continual ledge drops. Finally, I came out to the parking area at Appalachian Gap about 1115. I was never so happy to see a road. I got to the parking area and took off boots and socks and pant legs. The wet clothes in the cool breeze, even in the sun, was too cold. The picture is of me when Randy drove up at 1130. Day's milage 4.1, Trip mileage: 40.2. Can't wait for my whirlpool bath!

Day 5 Long Trail 2008

2008-06-24T10:19:00.002-07:00

I slept in this morning. By that I mean that after waking up everytime I had to turn over, (as happens every night), I continued to nap till 0630. By then, a trip to the privy was necessary so up I got. Of course, that delayed my leaving till 0900. The sky was overcast and looked like rain so I put my pack cover on the pack and kept my rain jacket handy. the Battell Shelter is 1/2 wau pt Mt Abraham. It took me an hour to get to the summit. Half way up, I put the rain jacket on because the wind was picking up and some rain was beginning to fall. Getting to the top was not easy. I'm afraind of falling anyway and some of the traverses of bedrock were pretty extreme for someone already afraid and who's wearing a pack. I couldn't belive I saw families with small children and dogs on this trail yesterday! At one point, going up a steep rock face with nothing but small lumps of rock and cracks to use as toe holds, I got my right foot wedged in a crack and couldn't pull it out. By then I had my left foot up, but couldn't get the right one out so I had to step back down, find the small rock bump I had been using for support and balance on screaming calf muscle while trying to get right foot un-wedged. I finally wriggled the boot loose. I eventually made it to the top - breathing havily more from terror and adreneline than exertion but I did give a big Yahoo! at the summit, 4008 feet. Mt Abraham was the 1st of 3, 4000+ foot peaks and 2 nearly 4000feet that I did this day. Fortunately, from Mt Abraham, it's more of a ridge walk than a constant mountain climb. The whole time I was crossing the ridge, the weather was getting worse. Just before noon, I had found a marginal place to sit down and have a drink of water and a snack. But the wind was blowing so hard and was so cold, it was too cold to sit there, even with my rain jacket on. I was also concerned with corssing the last 4083ft peak, Mt Ellen, in such a gale. So I packed up and headed out. I had to cross a lower peak before Mt Ellen and the wind was blowing hard enough that I worried trees would come down. None of the other peaks had as much bedrock to cross as Mt Abraham so that worry was gone. There was lots of wind and lots of sideways rain and at the top of every peak a big YOO HOO! Anyway, by 1230 I crossed Mt Ellen and gegan the descent. Again - tough going up, tougher going down. Lots of places I had to hold onto branches and or roots and drop a foot or so, always hoping it wouldn't tear up an ankle or knee. At one point on a ledge 2 feet higer than my legs are long and no seemingly good way down, I just shouted, " you guyes are killing me! I just have stubby little legs!" Yelling at long gone trail maintainers didn't make much sense but restored my sense of humor and I eventually worked out how to get down. I was just a little frustrated at the difficulty. finally, at 1415, I got to the trail for the Glen Ellen lodge. The lodge is .3 of a mile down the ridge. Seemingly straight down a rocky stream bed. At the bottom is a rock face so steep and smooth the maintainers put a wooden ladder in place. It rests in a small streambed but does not reach to the top of the rock face, I had to more or less slide down to it, hoping not to miss the ladder. I slipped the last 3 rungs of the ladder, it being all wet, mossy and slippery, just missing landing in the streambed and falling into the woods, just missing being skewered by spruce branches and crushing some spruce seedlings. Fortunately, I was only wet, not hurt. The Glen Ellen lodge is a cabin set on a cliff overlooking the valley below. Shortly after 3pm the sun came out but the bog and haze in the valley never cleared enough for a good picture. I'll try and get out of here in the morning by 0800 and probably have to spend 1/2 hour getting out of the .3 mile trail back to the Long Trail. Picture is of the Glen Ellen Lodge, cabin built in 1933. Today's milage: 6.7 miles, trip mileage: 36.1 miles.

Day 4 Long Trail 2008

2008-06-24T09:53:00.002-07:00

Again awake at 0500 and stayed in the sack till 0530. Nature calls always get me up. I had my tea and was starting my cereal before the 1st of the other group got up. Normal morning routine except all my clothes and boots were wet. I put them on anyway. Day temps about 50 - 55 degrees. Chilly! I said my goodby's and left at 0800. The 1st part of the trail was uphill and very wet but since the sun was shining, it seemed like a better day. Once, at the top of Mt Grant, the morning was pent on a nice woodland path, ery easy on the feet. I stopped on a ledge about 1030 to take off shoes and socks and to lay out some other stuff to dry in the sun. A hike passed by about 1100. He's up from Boston to play clarinet in a Green Mountain orchestra and spends his free time hiking and biking the area. He reminded me that it was Saturday. From then on I expected hikers and I wasn't dissappointed. At Sunset Ledge, there were 2 older couples, enjoying the view. I enjoyed it too. (It was the only high point view I had the whole 6 days. All other high points were reached while overcast, no views to be had.) They said hi and we chatted for a minute and after that there was a constant parade of hikers and dogs. The rest of the descent of Mt Grant was steep and made my ankles and knees hurt a bit. Then it was across Lincoln Gap and at 1350, up Mt Abraham. It took me till 1530 to go the 1.7 miles to the Battell shelter. Note, this is not even the top of Mt. Abraham, I'll have to finish the ascent tomorrow. There are a lot of hikers on this mountain too. It seems the last of them have descended by 1700. When I got here, I found a beautiful little stream with a couple of decent sized pools to get my water from and to do a bit of sock washing and to clean up myself too. The day stayed sunny and even warmed up to 70 or so. I had all my gear and clothes and boots spread out in every patch of sunshine I could reach. It worked out because everything dried in the few hours I had till sunset except the boots and they were considerably drier than before. My only complaint about the shelter is the flies. Giant buzzing green flies, little flies, ugh. I wonder if it's because it was warm today? As it gets cooler, there seem to be fewer of them. I hope so. At 1830, a young male hiker, Tapeworm, gets in and let's me know a fellow hiker, Huckleberry, is also coming along behind him. Apparently, Huckleberry's friends are coming tomorrow to this shelter for a feast and to climb Mt Abraham. Sorry to miss it but have to be moving on to Glen Ellen Lodge for my last night on the trail. Weather report for tomorrow is rain. The picture is of Bunchberry. There was a lot of it all along the trail, including a pale yellow version. I also saw a lot of Clintonia, a yellow flower. They were usually growing in the same areas. I also saw a green stalked flower, not listed in my flower book, growing in wet areas, about 3 - 5 feet high with little green flowers reminiscent of Irish Bells. I didn't take a picture of that one tho. I did also see, occasionally, little white star flowers. Total mileage for day: 6.5, for trip: 29.4.

Day 3 Long Trail 2008

2008-06-24T09:35:00.003-07:00

I was awake again at 0500, 6/20/08, and again put off getting up till 0530 or so. The 2 women and 2 girls had stayed up quite late, playing card games and generally having fun. By the time I was ready to go, it was showering so I took the time to put my pack cover on my pack and put on my rain jacket. I'm glad I did.

I left the lodge at 0800. As I expected, the trail was wet. It was also just as tough, if not tougher than yesterday. It took me 2 hours to get to theEmily Proctor shelter, only 1.9 miles. The next mile took an hour plus. By then it was 1130 and I hadn't stopped for a morning break. So I found a spot, a trail junction for the Clark Brook trail, that had a nice outcropping of rock to sit on. At the moment, it wasn't raining. I stopped for about 20 minutes, as long as I could sit still in the cold. Somewhere around Mt Roosevelt, I passed a couple going south. By now, the sun was trying to peak thru the clouds so I stopped at a wide spot in the trail and took off my rain jacket. Past some smaller mountains, (meaning they weren't too difficult or took too long to climb) about 1330, the sky started raining on me. The trail was going thru and open area, lots of ferns and widely spaced birch trees and shrubs next to the trail and soon I was soaked thru. It let up raining a little as I climed and descended Mt. Cleveland but it was a constant shower of tree spray and brush wetting. I got to the Glen Cooley shelter about 1530. Just in time as it started raining again, and as I'm writing this, about 1650, it's still raining. I got out of my wet clothes and into my sleeping clothes, the only dry stuff I've got with me. What I was wearing is hanging up but I doubt it will be even close to dry by morning. When I eventually have to go for water or to the privy, I'm going in my sandals, sockless. I don't want my last pair of dry socks to get wet. Right now I'm warm enough in my sleeping bag. Soon I'll make some dinner and hope for the rain to stop. About 1800 it stopped raining but was still dripping. I finished my supper and rolling up pants legs and taking off socks, prepared to complete the evening chores. Going for water, I found the spring, a small pool about 3 inches wide, 4 long and 1 inch deep. I managed to get my pot washed and water dipped up into my nalgene bottle then back up the trail to the shelter, trying not to brush against any overhanging trees or bushes to stay dry. At 1830, a group of 4, 2 couples, arrived, soaking wet and very glad to reach shelter. They are out for a weekend backpack going north to south. They were Evan and Becky, Matty and Mellissa (Mo). Nice folks, picture at top. Mileage for the day; 7.6, for the trip; 22.9 miles.

Day 2 of Long Trail 2008

2008-06-24T09:14:00.003-07:00

So on 6/19/08 I woke up in the Sucker Brook shelter with the birds singing at 0500. I tried to go back to sleep but I was making tea by 0530. At 0600, 3 trail runners, all guys, came charging up the Sucker Brook trail thru the shelter site to run up the Long Trail. By the time they came back, I had finished breakfast and was getting ready to get water. I was on my way by 0740. The trail is brutal - lots of uphill, trail not burshed back, few if any blazes. The trail and the overhanging bushes were all wet. (Note: from Brandon Gap north, the signage at the trail heads note that this is wilderness area and little blazing or brushing back is done. They are not kidding.) I started the day in my sandals but the trail was so wet and muddy, I put my boots on at noon. I missed the trail turn at the Snow Bowl ski area and spent at least 40 miniumts trying to find it. Just before giving up and trudgeing down the ski slope to the ski buildings and catching Middlebury Gap there, I decided to try going back into the trail I had left and seeing if I could catch the Long Trail. Sure enough, not far into the trail, I found where the Long Trail took a hard right and in my efforts to watch my feet, missed the turn. I ate lunch at Middlebury Gap where I put my boots on. I'm glad I did, because from this point, the trail only got more muddy and wet. There was lots of hiking up streambeds, over mossy wet bedrock, over and around roots and downed treees. I got to the Boyce shelter at 1500 (3pm). Since the Skyline Lodge is only 2.1 more miles, and it was still early, I decided to go for Skyline Lodge. I'm glad I have that 2 miles behind me. I got to the lodge about 1715pm, totally wet, shivering, ready to call it a day. Camp chores (fetching water, getting my dry sleeping clothes on, hanging up wet things to dry, etc.) took me to 1845pm. While I was boiling water for my dinner, 2 women and 2 girls (thier daughters) cam in. They're staying in the loft of the lodge. (This is an enclosed cabin at the top of a ridge overlooking a pond. It has sleeping platforms on the ground floor and a loft for a total sleeping area for 10+ people.) They seemed to be on a girl's night out and stayed mostly to themselves. Tomorrow I'm on to Glen cooley Shelter. The guide book makes it seem like more of the same on the trail. I'm glad it's only 7+ miles. The picture is down one of the ski slopes at Snow Bowl. Total mileage for the day: 9.8 miles, for the trip: 15.3 miles.

Long Trail Brandon Gap to Appalachian Gap Vt Day One

2008-06-24T08:54:00.003-07:00

On 6/18/08 Randy and I left the house at 0700 and got to the Brandon Gap trailhead at 1010. I've been wanting to get back to the Long Trail for some time and this month seemed to be a good time. As we pulled into the trailhead parking lot I realized I had forgotten my hiking poles. While I was getting my pack and stuff out of the car, Randy went into the woods and found me a stick and trimmed it up for me. (Let me tell you now, this made all the difference over the next 6 days!)

So we had a kiss goodby and and at 1010 off I went up Mt. Horrid. It took me over an hour to get to the summit. I rewarded myself with a lunch, sitting on a convenient boulder. After lunch, there was a short descent and then a long climb up Cape Look Off Mt. After coming down that, the next mountain was Gillesipie Peak, the highest climb (3366') of the day. The last 2 miles to Sucker Brook shelter was pretty much downhill. At the lower elevations mixed hardwood took over from the predominately spruce forest earlier. It was growing over the trail, making footing a little tricky. So far the only wildlife I've seen is a garter snake and butterflies and other assorted insects. I hadn't been bothered by mosquitoes till just about now but if I can hold off using bug repellant, I will. I saw 3 trail maintainers when going up Mt Horrid and 2 people and their dog coming down Mt. Horrid. They had pulled into the parking lot just after us and started thier climb before I did. The shelter journal at Sucker Brook notes several people thru here in the last day or two. Perhaps I'll get company later this evening. Finally - I'm experimenting with hiking in sandals. I talked to a guy at Trail Days who was hiking the AT in them. I bought a pair of Choko's for the arch support and a pair of toe socks from ininji. I also brought my boots, just in case. I hiked all day today in the sandals. I like them. It's the 1st time I've gotten to the shelter at the end of the day and my toes and feet not hurt. We'll see how they do tomorrow on a 10 mile day. Total mileage end of day: 5.5 miles

ATC Trail Days 2008

2008-05-21T11:24:00.002-07:00

On Thursday the 15th, Randy and I drove south to Harrisburg PA to meet my Tiger Bomber hiking friend Susan and her husband George. We stayed overnight with them and then we all piled into thier big truck and headed to Damascus VA to attend the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Trail Days. This is a big hiker festival held by Damascus cause the AT runs right thru the middle of town and this is the time of year the thru hikers are coming thru. Anyway. We got there about 3pm and set up our tents in the backyard of a B&B. Lots and lots of tents in all the neighboring yards too. We settled in, had dinner at a local pizzaria with other Tiger Bombers (Wendy and Denny and after dinner, sat around the backyard picnic table having drinks and talking about the trail. I reconnected with several of the hikers I met in April starting at Springer Mtn. I also met several others that Susan met while she was out for 30 days.

On Saturday Randy and I explored the town. We headed out to tent city, the location where most of the hikers were tenting to see the gear vendors out there. Tent city is party central, the reason we all decided to tent in town. Then Randy and I walked back to the park, at the other end of Damascus to see the rest of the vendors. We bought a few gifts for people and had a good lunch. At 2pm the Hiker Parade took place. It's traditional for hikers and spectators to squirt each other with water from squirt guns and water balloons. Strange dress on the part of the hikers is also traditional. Randy got some good pictures. We sat around the tent the rest of the afternoon chit chatting with all the hikers and at dinner walked down to the park and got some BBQ for dinner from one of the vendors. Again on Saturday night, lots of talk around the picnic table.

On Sunday AM, we packed up and headed back to PA and got to Susan's about 6:30pm. While on the ride, George suggested "Klik" for Randy's trailname. We tried it out all day. We spent the night and got headed out to NY about 8am. On the drive, Randy decided to use "Popcorn" instead of "Klik" for his trail name. I like Klik better but Popcorn is good too. We got home about 2:30pm.

Northern Excursion Section 31

2008-05-14T07:46:00.004-07:00

Kathy and I decided to do section 31 of the Long Path Northern Excursion yesterday. The section goes north from the Albany county line to Switz Kill Rd in Albany county, 11.85 miles. We couldn't have ordered a better day. Clear sky and sunshine, temps in the low 70's. There were some mayflies or blackflies but they weren't biting. This part of the trail stays at the top of the ridge, no real climbs to speak of. It also is mostly within the Partridge Run State Wildlife management area. The trail is a combination cross country ski, hiking and in some parts, snow machine trail. It is comfortably wide, runs thru various types of stands of trees and open meadows. We saw lots of wildflowers the last 3 miles, blue and yellow violets, trillium, Carolina spring beauties, Jack-in-the-Pulpit and some others I can't identify.

Today I'm resting up for our weekend trip the the ATC Trail Days in Damascus VA. Can hardly wait to see my Tiger Bomber friends.

Alpiner Hike: East Branch Sacandaga Trail

2008-05-11T11:30:00.002-07:00

On Saturday May 10th, I led the Herkimer Alpiner hiking club hike to the East Branch Sacandaga trail and lean-to. There were 8 of us on the hike and the day couldn't have been nicer. The trail had dried out considerably since we did our hike survey last week. Lots of wildflowers were now in bloom and in addition to the ones last week I saw little white cinqfoil and black cohosh and dutchman's breeches. The last may be one of my new favorites. Once we got up to the lean-to, we explored the other side of the river, going over the bridge and a couple hundred feet to a stream flowing into the E. Sacandaga that has little water falls on it. Very pretty. We headed back to the trail head after lunch and again, total hiking time was 4 hours. (About 45 minutes at the lean-to.) Note; the may flies are out and were flying into eyes, nose and mouth. Time to bring out the bug nets!

Finishing our 1st Long Path Section

2008-05-05T12:16:00.003-07:00

On Sunday the 4th, my friend Kathy and I finished section 30 of the Long Path Northern Excursion. The day was cool and a little rainy but since there was some climbing, of Cotton Hill and another mountain, we appreciated the cool weather. We were both kind of surprised at the lack of wildflowers on the trail. Since I saw so many along the trail on Thursday in the Adirondacks, I was sure there would be lots, already in bloom, farther to the south. But, not so. Oh well. We did see 2 old dug wells from the 1930's that used to be used for forest fire fighting. We also saw a very pretty little water fall. The lean-to on Cotton Hill was in good shape. We stopped there for a brief rest about an hour into the hike. I'm posting a picture or 2 in my MySpace photo album. http://www.myspace.com/reloc.cfm?c=2&id=2b8710e7-8c17-4d2a-988d-eb9936ad288a

We got back to my car about 2pm, so it only took us 4 hours to do the nearly 8 miles. Can't wait to do the next section.

Site Survey of East Branch Sacandaga River Trail

2008-05-02T07:50:00.004-07:00

I'm scheduled to lead a Herkimer Alpiner hiking club hike on May 10th on this trail. Yesterday I had nothing scheduled it it turned out to be a nice day so I decided to do my survey of the trail. Randy decided to come along so we packed up and were on the road to the trailhead by 0830.

The easiest way to find the trail head is to head north on Rt 30 and go thru Wells. Just north of Wells there is an intersection of Rt 30 and Rt 8. Turn right (east) on Rt 8 going toward North Creek. About 14.5 miles, on the left, you'll see the DEC sign post for Eleventh Mountain. It's a pretty fair sized parking area as this is a major entry point for the Siamese Ponds wilderness area.

When we arrived at the trail head, 2 guys and a gal were packing up for what looked like an extended fishing trip into the area. They hit the trail before us and we never saw them again. The trail starts uphill immediately and goes up (according to the Adirondack Trails Central Region guidebook) about 270 feet. After that, it's all downhill into the valley of the East Branch of the Sacandaga River. Along the way there are several places along the river that would make good picnic spots if a family didn't want to walk the 4 miles in to the lean-to (our destination). Also along the trail were several species of spring flowers, either in bloom already or about to bloom. I'm not great at it but I spotted, in bloom: yellow woods violets, red trillium, hobble bush and carolina spring beauty. About to bloom were lots of red trillium and wild oats. By next Saturday, when I lead the hike, all those flowers should be wide open and beautiful.

It took about 2 hours to get to the lean-to. As you can imagine, spring in the Adirondacks means several boggy spots on the trail, full streams and even a few spots of snow still left in the shadiest parts of the trail. However, nothing was too hard to cross or get around. The lean-to was in great shape and the shelter log noted that a group had been staying there the last couple of days. Randy took some pictures of the lean-to from the other side of the river. There's a very handy suspension bridge at the lean-to so people can cross over the river and get to the Siamese Ponds. Actually very picturesque. We ate some lunch and hung around about 45 minutes then headed back to the car. Again, about 2 hours back. Overall, a great day out.

Gentle Hike

2008-04-20T19:53:00.002-07:00

My niece Emily, called a couple of days ago to ask if we were going on a hike over the weekend. Actually, we hadn't had any plan but since she was asking, we decided to create a hike for her.

After several map consultations and a drive to a trail head north of us, we decided on a trip up to Mud Lake. Other spots were still too wet or snow covered for a hike. While we've been on the Murphy Lake trail on other dates, we haven't been there this time of year, and even on the gentle side, it was still too snow covered. So Mud Lake it is.

The hike was good. Not too muddy but there were the "trail turned streambed" that I had expected. But overall, not as muddy as anticipated. I did spot some newly sprouted yellow woods violet. On my trip to Georgia, there were lots of these flowers, but here, it's early enough to take a real joy in the first blooms of the season. (I am calling these yellow woods violets but I'm not sure of the real name.) All I know is that this early in the year I'm just glad to get out.

Another Tiger Bomber Leaves the Trail

2008-04-16T19:07:00.002-07:00

My AT Tiger Bomber group mate, Super Slacker, had to leave the trail. Her Trail Journal entries at: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=216687 tell the tale. We all met on Tuesday the 8th in the evening at the Hiker Hostel to say hi to each other and catch up. Super Slacker was going to hit the trail early, much earlier than the rest of us were going to be able to get there. I spent the 9th and 10th, hoping we could catch up to her, as she was slack packing the trail and I was thinking we could catch her at some point. It turns out we missed her the 1st day as she was seriously injured and dropped out due to broken wrist.

I will miss her upbeat trail journal entries and beautiful pictures. I wish her and her husband, Apteryx, all the best in his quest to finish the CDT.

Day 4 - Neel's Gap (Saturday)

2008-04-15T12:19:00.002-07:00

So it rained on and off all night. I was glad to be in the shelter. This morning my toes were severely protesting when I put my boots on. I retaped my left little toe before we set off about 0830. It was slow hiking up Blood Mountain. I finally made it to the top about 10am. The views from up on top were spectacular. We could see (I was with Sherpa and a fellow hiker, Low Impact) My feet didn't feel too bad coming up but it was even steeper and more rocky on the way down. Sure enough, by the time I got to Neel's Gap and the outfitter's, I was limping and near to tears. I had to tell Sherpa and the rest of the group that I was dropping out 2 days early. Sherpa was sad but understood. It's too bad really cause other than my toes, I feel pretty darn good. So, I got a ride from Neel's Gap back to the Hiker Hostel. Now I'm clean and dry and have a bed for the night.

While at Neel's Gap, Sherpa had a message on her phone. Tiger Bomb and Katahdin Kid were camped at Jerrod's Gap the night before and were going to try and catch up to us at Neel's Gap. Unfortunately, they hadn't arrived by the time I got my ride. I hope they can catch up to Sherpa. I'm sorry to have missed saying good bye. Now I'm doing my nasty laundry and I'll go out to dinner in Dahlonega some where.

I completed about 30 miles more of the AT over the last 4 days.

Day 3 - Woods Hole Shelter (Friday)

2008-04-15T12:00:00.002-07:00

I was kind of tired yesterday even tho it was only an 8 mile hike. I have had to tape up both big and little toes at lunch time today. the left food toes had already developed blisters but I did catch the right ones before blisters. After I got my tent up, my chores done and I ate, I just laid on my sleeping bag to read. Like I said yesterday, I visited the bon fire briefly, then hit the hay. I woke up once to a brief shower and got up and felt all along both edges of my shelter to make sure everything was under cover and staying dry. Then right back into my bag and to sleep.

The morning was typical and Sherpa waited for me to get packed up. We hit the trail about 0820. today's plan is to go 12 miles to the Woods Hole shelter. It was a tough day. My toes hurt bad every down hill. A few miles from the shelter, I stopped at an unnamed gap with a stream. I soaked my feet (oh the bliss of icy cold water!) and put my shoes and socks back on. Then realized my right big toe hurt. OK, take out my pad, sit down and pull off boot and sock. Turns out the sock toe seam slipped down over the bottom edge of the tape and wore a hole in my toe. No wonder it hurt. So I dug out my sports tape and taped more of the toe. Two guys we've been seeing in the shelters, a father/son team, have been yo yo'ing on the trail with me all day. Sherpa pulled ahead after lunch. Anyway, they stopped at the stream too. The dad has a bad knee and the son, a bad ankle. I'm wondering if they'll drop out tomorrow an Neel's Gap. I may have to also due to the toes. I'll study the map for tomorrow's terrain.

I haven't seen Tiger Bomb or Katahdin Kid all day. Haven't heard from any of the passing hikers about them either. Hope they're OK>

Today I saw a couple of new flowers in addition to the last 2 day's list. One, a small bloom, daisy-like on a 3 inch tall plant. The other a yellow buttercup shaped bloom, also on a short plant. I also saw a black bird, about robin size, with orange breast and white dots on its wings. I'll have to look it up when I get home. (I've looked it up and the closest I can see in my copy of the North American Wildlife book is that it was a Rufous Sided Towhee). I got to Woods Hole just after 5pm. I think I was suffering from dehydration cause it's hotter than I'm used to (in the 70's all 3 days). We also did a lot of climbing today. I drank 3 liters of water on the trail but arrived at the shelter with headache and nausea. I sat and rested, finishing off my water before setting up for the night. I still haven't got an appetite but I manage to get supper down. We're all in the shelter tonight. Sherpa has been in contact via cell phone with her spouse, George. He's providing daily weather reports. How helpful is that! Anyway, we're crammed in here as tight as we can get it so as few as possible have to pack up wet tents.

Day 2 - Gooch Mountain

2008-04-15T11:45:00.002-07:00

Last night, about 11pm, I woke up out of a sound sleep to very strange sounds. there was Hoo, Hoo, Hoo, then lots of yipping. I thought coyotes were in the area. I found out today the noise was barred owls. Sounded like a whole flock. Anyway, while I was trying to figure out what the noise was, the Rangers, apparently on night manuvoers, had a firefight going on with lots of small arms fire and grenades or some other cannon like sounds. Pretty busy till about midnight when all the animals decided to call it a night. Earlier in the evening, the "kids" staying in the Hawk Mountain shelter decided to have a bon fire. So I went up and hung out, chit chatting awhile. By 8:30pm I went to bed.

This morning I was up as soon as I could see without a light, about 7am. Some of the others were already up and tearing down their tents. I did the normal morning stuff, said hi to Tiger Bomb and Katahdin Kid, then Sherpa and I were on the trail by 0840. We hiked together pretty much all day tho she does hike faster than me and she pulled ahead after lunch. I don't mind, it's nice to have the trail to myself.

Today I spotted columbine budding, tho one plant had gotten to full bloom. Also red trilliums and a tree flowering with pink flowers. I got a picture of that one. See my MySpace page. http://www.myspace.com/312345632

Gooch Mountain shelter is pretty nice, quite a few tent sites and a 2 level shelter. Like Hawk Mountain shelter, bear cables are available to hang our food. Lots of hikers here tonight. The "Shelter Kids" are building another bon fire but I'm too tired to really participate. I was in my sleeping bag again by 8:30pm.

Springer Mountain to Hawk Mountain Shelter

2008-04-12T12:42:00.002-07:00

I was up at 5:30 and the hostel had breadkfsast on at 0730. We were shuttled to the Springer Mt parking lot and finally got started at 10am. The parking lot is situated so that we have to climb .9 miles up Springer then follow our track back to the parking lot and on to the rest of the trail. Coming from the welcome center has a hiker coming up an approach trail, adding several steep miles to a hike that don't actually count toward the total AT milage. We skipped that part. Anyway, by 11am we were back at the parking lot where Karen left us and went on her way. We proceeded on and it was a warm, beautiful, sunshiny day. I heard lots of birds, saw a black butterfly with indigo on the back edge of its wings, yellow swallowtail butterflies, yellow and violet woods violets and a few white 8 petaled flowers that looked similar to daisys. I took a picture of one. This part of the trail is near an Army Ranger training base so there have been a few overhead blyby's of helicopters and rangers playing war games. Sherpa got to Hawk Mountain shelter first and come back along the trail to offer encouragement. I'm skipping the shelter and staying in my tent. It was late by the time Katahdin Kid got in. Larry (Shaft) had to drop out at the 3 Forks area due to back problems. He hitched a ride out. We're sad to see him go. At the shelter, a NYC guy, Red Eyes, has had stove failure so I'm lending him my stove to make his supper. There are 8 other hikers here besides us. Half of them are staying in the shelter, the rest are tenting. The Shelter Kids are gathering firewood for a campfire. I've made my food but I'm still not hungry. I guess I'll just choke it donw. I have to figure out how to hang my bear canister from the bear cables. I thought to put the cannister in my sleeping bag compression bag but it doesn't fit. Maybey the compression straps for my sleeping pad?

Getting to Springer

2008-04-08T17:19:00.002-07:00

I left home about 0730 on Monday and reached wendy's house in shepardstown WVA about 1630. Sunsan (sherpa) arrived shortly after with her hubby George. We had a good dinner and caught up on the latest news and then George headed back to Harrisburg PA. Wendy took Denny (Katahdin Kid) to his house to meet his frind Larry who is coming with us. Denny and Larry are driving to the Hiker Hostel by themselves and Wendy, Karen and I are driving down in my car. We were all in bed by 10pm.

This morning we were up and out of the door by 0725. We had a great time driving down and chatting the whole way. It's just amazing how much we have in common. Anyway, we made pretty good time and got to the Hiker Hostel (hikerhostel.com) about 6:30pm. While Denny and Larry took off into Dahlonega for Mexican, the rest of stayed here and met Kathleen and Wally and Karen. Karen is up from Pensacola to see us off. Also, we got a call from Grasshopper to give us a good send off.

Anyway, breakfast is 0730 in the morning and we get shuttled at 0830. I guess by 9am we'll be on the trail. Hoooo HOOOOOO!!!

Ready to go

2008-04-06T08:03:00.001-07:00

I've got everything ready to pack into my backpack for tomorrow's trip south. I'm stoked about getting to the start of the AT and hiking for a few days.

Middleburg Cliffs

2008-04-03T19:15:00.004-07:00

It's been weeks since I've been out hiking. Something always seem to get in the way. However, I planned since last week to get out today and I got lucky. The weather was sunny and up to the 50's today. Anyway, my hiking friend Kathy, Randy and I went south to Schoharie County where there is little or no snow to do a hike. I really wanted to test out my new LLBean boots before my trip to Springer Mtn on Monday. Anyway, we met up and got to the trailhead about 0945 after spotting Kathy's car at the far end of the trail.

This trail is part of the Long Path, starting in NYC and ending at Thatcher Park in Albany. Kathy knew about this particular part of the trail from an earlier hike and let us in on it. Neither of us had a real trail map or guide. Just winging it. At anyrate, it's across the Valley from our previous hike of Vrooman's Nose. The initial part of the hike is actually in a housing development in Middleburg NY. Pretty cool. It is a little scary, doing a rock climb. I keep trying to "be one with the rock'. It makes it hard to get up and over, but I managed. Making it even harder, a pair of Turkey Buzzards were circling the site. Were they acutually anticipating the meal? The rest of the hike, while uphill, was pretty pleasant, especially for an early April day in upstate NY.

I can hardly wait to get to Springer Mountain.

Springer Mountain Prep

2008-03-17T10:00:00.002-07:00

I haven't been doing a lot of hiking, just local walks and time on the elipse and treadmill. I spent some time today going thru my gear in preparation for my trip to Georgia and Springer Mountain.

I have been carrying a first aid kit (14 oz) and an emergency kit (18 oz) both in nice cloth but not waterproof cases. I'm thinking after all this hiking that I might be able to cull some stuff from these two kits and make just one kit. I dropped band aids, small bottle of iodine, several gauze things and a sling and other stuff. I also dropped an extra pen, 2 mini bungees, extra nail clippers and tweezers (I didn't realize I had!), etc. Overall, I trimmed 10 oz from the two kits and managed to put everything I kept in one case. I still kept things like duct tape, emergency blanket, extra flashlight batteries, tent repair goo, antibacterial cream, gauze pads and sport tape to name some of the important stuff. I feel confident that I still have emergency and 1st aid supplies for crisis situations but without the extra weight!

I'm still on to meet my Tiger Bomber friends at Tiger Bomb's house in West VA on Apr 7th and then caravan down to Dahlonega Hiker Hostel on the 8th. I'm pretty darned excited.

2/25/08 Turner's Gap to Rt 70

2008-03-01T11:06:00.002-07:00

We were out of the house by 0830 and met Kathleen and Wally at a Boonsboro park and ride location where we left Wendy's car. Wally drove us up to Turner's Gap and dropped us off then headed up to Rt 70. Since today is only a 5 mile hike, he's not going back to his camper, he'll park then hike in to meet us. By 0910, we were dropped off and on the trail The weather started cool, about 38 degrees, and cloudy. The trail lead up the ridge but at a gentle slope, not too tiring. About 1 1/2 miles in, were were at the Boonsboro Washington Monument. We spent a few minutes there. I climbed to the top of the monument for a view of the valley and we all had a quick snack. Wally hiked the 3 1/2 miles to the monument in the time we hiked the mile and a half! While there, Wally took a group photo of us which Kathleen has posted on her Trail Journal site. Just as we were getting ready to go, a park ranger pulled up. He asked us if we saw anything unusual, we said no. He said there was a report of a naked man running around in the park. We all laughed and said it was pretty cold for that but no, we hadn't seen anyone. He said thanks and drove off and we got back on our way. the last 3 miles were as easy as the first and I wa at Wally's car just behind Denny at 1210. Kathleen and Wendy were there about 1230. On the drive back, Wally said he believes the ranger thought he was the "naked man". The ranger met Wally at one of the road crossings to ask hime some questions and again at the car park at Rt 70. Pretty strange! Wally was hiking in shorts but he had on a green pullover sweater. On the ride back to Wendy's car, we decided to meet for supper at Appleby's as it is my last day here. I had a great time this week. Wendy's a great host and I'm only 19 miles short of completing Maryland AT!

2/24/08 - Crampton Gap to Turner's Gap

2008-03-01T10:50:00.002-07:00

The day started pretty much as it did yesterday only we met Kathleen and Wally at a thier camper and picked up Kathleen. We're leaving Wendy's car at Crampton Gap and Wally will pick us up at Turner's Gap later. We got to Crampton Gap and started hiking north. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day. We had sunshine right from the start. This Gathland Park is a historic site and we read quite a few of the markers as we hiked by them. There was about an inch of snow on the ground but as we gained elevation, all the trees and bushes were covered with a layer of ice. Up at White Rock, near the top of Lambs Knoll, the trees and bushes were just beginning to drop thier ice covering. The ice was dropping all around and on us, like a crystal shower. We took a lunch break at Rocky Run Shelter. Trail maintainers are repairing the old shelter and adding a new one at this location. Kathleen and I were ready to move on just before Wendy and Denny (changing his trail name to Geezer from Katahdin Kid) so we did. Shortly after rejoining the AT from the blue blazed shelter trail, we met Wally. He decided to hike in from the Turner's Gap end to meet us. A nice surprise. His ankle (damaged severely on the CDT last year) is mending nicely and felt well enough for a bit of a hike today. We're only about 1.5 miles from the gap and Wally decided to hike ahead. Even with a bad ankle, Wally can out hike us all and got to the car well ahead of us. The trail took us past a civil war location, Fox Gap, and the monument there to General Reno (the Reno Monument). I took a minute to read the plaques there. By now we were all hiking at our own pace and Wendy and Denny, who normally hike faster than me, had not yet caught up. By 2:10pm, I was at the car before everyone but Wally. By 2:30pm, everyone else was back and we were headed home. Again today, the trail was pretty easy and as it was a nice Sunday, there were lots of people on the trail. We did 8 miles today, a good day of hiking.

2/23/08 Crampton Gap to Harper's Ferry

2008-03-01T10:35:00.002-07:00

As usual I was awake at 6am, got up, ate, finished packing my pack and was ready to go by 8am. We met Kathleen and Wally at the ATC HQ cause I had forgotten my hiking poles on Wednesday and wanted to pick them up. I left the group and hiked from the ATC HQ north to the park and rail road bridge at the Harper's Ferry historic district (about a mile or so) and met the rest of the group there. We then drove up to Crampton Gap trail head in Gathland Park in Wally's car, leaving Wendy's car at the park for our return. Today is realatively warm but there's snow on the ground so a fog is surronding everything and frosting all the trees and bushes. Looks like a fairyland, very beautiful, even without the sun. This is a very easy trail with no significant climbs and about 4 miles of canal path, flat and smooth at the end back to Harper's Ferry. We stopped at lunchtime in the Ed Garvey shelter. This is a nice shelter, 2 floors and nice deck with picnic table. Unfortunately the water source is 1/2 mile away at the bottom of the ridge. Not good, glad I wasn't camping there. However, a guy was there from the night before, name of No Pain. A black guy from Washington DC, on his 6th AT thru-hike. He also has done the PCT and the CDT. An interesting guy wo seemed to know or know of most of the movers and shakers in the hiking community. After lunch we left No Pain and moved on south. I took a side (blue blaze) to Weaverton Cliffs for the view. Pretty awesome. When we got to Keep Tryst Road, we met several people recovering from having thier cars broken into. They'd only been gone a couple of hours. A jeep had also been broken into (window smashed), probably belonging to 2 guys we passed on the trail. The park rangers had gone to try and intercept these guys. We commiserated with the victims then moved on to the canal path. We hiked the last 4 miles pretty quickly, spying many ducks, geese, and pilated woodpeckers along the river bank. Talking with Kathleen on the hike, she's looking for a new trail name. Maybe Glinda? Ranger? We were back at Wendy's car about 4:30pm. The day's milage for me was about 11 miles. I had wrapped my toes in band aids this morning, which worked pretty well at preventing further hurt and damage.

2/21-22/08 - Rest Days

2008-03-01T10:23:00.002-07:00

I'm taking a rest day to heal my groin and toes. Both 2nd toes are severely bruised, I'm not sure why it happens but it's painful just to have socks over them. I may avail myself of LLBean when I get home for a second opinion on boots. Anyway, Wendy went to do some running around chores and I read James Patterson's "Jack and Jill". I did bestir myself to go with Wendy to the grocery store to buy supplies for tomorrow's dinner with Kathleen, Wally and Denny. We decided crock pot beef stew would be appropriate. The groin hurt every time I lifted my knee to get in the car. Oh well. Later in the day I did sit on my bed without a thought. A good sign. I finished "Jack and Jill" and borrowed a book from Wendy called "In Beauty May She Walk" by Leslie Mass. The weather reports for the 22nd are poor, lots of ice so it looks like I'll have plenty of reading time. I bought a paperback at a swap shop we were at today to read later. Only 50 cents so both it and the "Jack and Jill" will be donated to a trail shelter. Wendy also has a book I'd like to read, "Blistered Kind of Love: by Angela and Duffy Ballard about thier hike of the Pacific Crest Trail.

I am up at 6am on the 22nd and the ice storm hasn't been too bad overnight. I earned my keep by shovelling the drive and walk in case Kathleen and Wally make it here from southern Virginia. I also helped Wendy get the beef stew started. After that it was just read, read, read, finishing the Leslie Mass book just before Kathleen and Wally arrived at 6:30pm. We had a nice dinner with planning for Saturday's hiking and tales of our hiking exploits. Bed by 9pm for an early start in the morning.

2/20/08 David Lessing Shelter to ATC HQ Harper's Ferry

2008-02-28T12:27:00.002-07:00

Yep - very cold last night. I had to get up about 10 or 11 pm to visit the rpivy. the sky is clear and starry. there are lots of lights in the valley. Very pretty but too cold to linger. I get back to my sleeping bag. The air coming in the face hole is cold so I pull out my shelter and pull it over me, including my face hole and hey!, much warmer! I was warm enough all night, just not toasty warm. I had on my fleece pants, long john shirt, socks, fleece, winter jacket and hat. I got up just before sunrise. Sure enough, very cold outside my sleeping bag. My groin hurts when I get up and legs are stiff. Off to the privy then back for some aspirin. I get cooking from inside my sleeping bag and while I'm eating the sun peeks out for about 30 seconds then it dissappears into a solid overcast. I pack up and set off, I think it's about 8am.

The groin pull hurts every step. An hour into my hike I try and get a drink, no go. Even tho I had blown the drinking tube clear when I loaded up and tested the water bladder, it's still frozen. Ok, I take off the pack, take a nature break and unload the pack enough to get at the water bladder. I hold the tube connections in my hands at both ends to thaw residual water. Eventually it thaws enough for me to drink. I load everything back up and on we go. This time I leave water in the tube and take a drink every few minutes to keep the water flowing.

The trail has no real climbs, pretty level tho there are some spots completely rock strewn, like walking in a dry streambed, slowing me down. Still not totally sure of the time, I don't want to delay Wendy's pick up, cause I know she has an obligation to go to after she picks me up. I finally reach the power line, about the 1/2 way point and stop for lunch. Today it's a food bar and one of my dehydrated snacks of backpack bruchetta and soy chips. The dip would be better warm but it's still pretty tasty. It's so cold that by the time I finish eating my hands are freezing. I pack up and get my gloves on. While packing up I see a squirrel. I only see it for a 1/2 second, it looks like it's red and black? I'll have to ask Wendy about it. I trek on and it starts snowing. In about 1 mile I pass a sign post declaring the area the Harper's Valley Historic park. Hoo Hoo! Only 2 miles to go. However, this is the hardest part of the trail in the 2 day trip. It's very steep and lots of shale, now wet and covered in snowy wet leaves. I decend carefully. The area is supposed to have stone redoubts from the Union Army shelling of harper's Ferry during the Civil War but I haven't seen any. Betting to the bottom of the ridge OK, I still have 2 ravines to cross. They turn out to be pretty easy but the path leading to the road and bridge crossing of the Susquehanna is very steep, wet shale. Slippery when wet! Once at the bridge, there are lots of steps to the sidewalk, groin hurts every step. Once on the bridge tho, great views of the river. Lots of ducks and geese in the water. They don't seem to mind the cold or the snowfall. Across the bridge, there's a ridge to climb, moderately steep slope and lots of wet rock steps but going slowly I get up to the historic area. It's rumored that getting thru this area and to the ATC is tricky. I found my way pretty well but missed the last turn post sign and ended up walking around a large block. I asked directions and it turned out I was just down the street (down hill of course) from the ATC. I walked up the hill and found the place. I was the only hiker in that afternoon. A great crew there who gave me a lot of assistance and bless them, a hot cup of tea! It turns out I got there a little after 2pm. I left a phone message for Wendy and toured the building, bought a couple of souveniers. The ATC has a computer for hikers so I sent Randy a quick email and posted a quick blog entry. Waiting for Wendy, I go back down the hill to the liquor store and buy a bottle of wine to celebrate. Wendy picked me up at 5pm and after a dinner and glass of wine, in bed by 8:30pm. Missed the eclipse of the moon, dang it!

The Drive to West VA and Snickers Gap Start 2/18-19/08

2008-02-28T11:52:00.002-07:00

So, I drove to Shepardstown West Virginia on the 18th to meet the originator of our AT Hiking group, the Tiger Bombers. I found Wendy's house with no trouble and Wendy, Tiger Bomb, and I had a nice supper, chatting about hiking. We hit the hay early since I wanted to get an early start at Snicker's Gap, Virginia. We were up at 6am (2/19) and I took a quick shower, finished packing my pack and were out the door by 6:30. We met Denny (Katahdin Kid), another member of our group and Wendy's fiancee, for breakfast then went to the trailhead. About 8:15am, Wendy and Denny hiked with me about 1/2 mile then said goodby. Wendy will pick me up tomorrow afternoon at the ATC HQ in Harper's Ferry.

So this part of the trail begins in VA and is the tail end of a section of the AT called the Rollercoaster. Just after I left Wendy and Denny, I realized my watch had stopped. I've only a general notion of the time now. I suspect the cold, about 38 degrees, has something to do with the stoppage. So, I trudge up 2 hills and notice that the watch is working again. Big sigh. I think it's about 1 hour off. I'll go with that reckoning for the rest of the day. So I finish the last 2 mountains of the rollercoaster and am on the long ridge and about 11:30 I figure it's time for lunch. that's when I realize in my rush to get up and out this morning, I forgot to make the balony and cheese sandwich I wanted to bring for lunch. Drats! I always forget something; if this is the worst, I've got no worries. So I eat what I brought for snacking on, a Gluten Free food bar and some peanut butter and crackers. While eating, an older guy, mid-60's?, came by. We chatted for a minute, he's thru hiking and will be stopping at Bears Den. He stayed at the David Lessing shelter last night and said it was clean and nice. He noted that the spring is 1/4 mile down the ridge from the shelter on a pretty steep slope. I was planning on staying at the Backburn Center but thanked him for the lean-to status. After that he trudged on and I finished my lunch.

By now it's as warm as it's going to get, sunny but cold wind. The guy was hiking in a thick down jacket, heavy gloves, etc. I'm down to 2 shirts and my fleece when I stop. Different strokes I guess. So, I finish lunch and trudge on and in an hour get to the Blackburn Center blue blaze trail. It's only about 1pm, way too early to stop. Benefits of the Blackburn Center is a cabin with wood stove, easy water and an early stop to the day. Negatively, that would make tomorrow a 13 mile hike and the David Lessing Shelter is 3 sided, unheated and water is a steep ridge walk away. I figure, what am I going to do all afternoon if I stop? Do I really want a 13 mile day tomorrow? Answer is, no. I don't want to stop now. So I go on to the David Lessing Shelter. Hope I don't regret that stove!

Even tho this is the end of the rollercoaster, I find the trail pretty easy. It's amazing to me that there are rhododendrens in green here and small plants along the trail (no snow!) are already greening up! The trail itself has long stretches of smooth, pine needle or leaf covered trail, easy on the feet. I do notice I've pulled a groin muscle or tendon. Painful to lift my leg for any climb. Oh well. I got to the shelter about 3pm and it was as nice as promised. It has a big deck overlooking the Virgina valley (Patomic?)and a separate shelter for a fire pit, picnic table and hanging porch swing. Sweet! Also several camping areas scattered around along the way to the spring. I unload my pack, take a bread to read the shelter journal and sign it myself. While resting, I take a look at my trail guide for tomorrow's hike and finally get up to go fetch my water. I fill up my cooking pot with water for tonight's supper so I'll have a full water bladder for tomorrow's hike. Won't have to go to the spring again.

Sure enough, it's a trek down to the spring and the flow is shallow but I manage to use my cup to dip out enough to fill the bladder, then trek back up to the shelter. I add the chemical purifier and seal the bladder up and set it in the little bit of sunlight left. Hope I can warm the water up a bit that way. I get organized for the night, changing into dry clothes to sleep in and hang my hiking stuff in the breeze to dry. I crawl into my sleeping bag to stay warm while I cook up my dinner. I was going to have a cup of hot tea but realize I forgot that too. Oh well. So, about my wet clothes. It turns out, on the ride to the trailhead, my drinking tube was squashed and leaked water all over the bottom of my pack (outside not inside). It wouldn't have been a problem but my pants and long johns and shirt absorbed the water from the pack and I'd been hiking all day with a cold, wet butt. I'm hoping the breeze will finish drying my pack and clothes. OK, sun is going down, I get up and take my clothes down and put them in my sleeping bag along with the water. It's supposed to get in the 20's tonight and I don't want the clothes or the water freezing.

Hiking the AT in West Virginia Pt 1

2008-02-20T13:27:00.002-07:00

Well, I drove to Shepardstown West Virginia to meet Wendy Pacek (Tiger Bomber), the organizer of the AT Hiking Group, Wendy's Tiger Bombers. That was Monday the 18th. We had a nice chat all evening and a good meal then to bed. Next morning at 6am I was up and at'em cause we're meeting Denny, Wendy's beau (Katahdin Kid, for breakfast before they drop me off for a 2 day hike across WVA from Snicker's Gap to the ATC HQ in Harper's Ferry. I am typing this from the ATC HQ where they have internet access for hikers. I'll do a journal entry about the 2 day hike later.

Getting Ready

2008-02-16T10:14:00.003-07:00

I'm getting ready for a trip to West Virginia to meet my internet AT hiking friends. The group was started by Wendy Pacek via an ad in the AT magazine. I and several others, answered and we formed Wendy's Tiger Bombers. Anyway, Wendy has already started her thru hike of the AT. She's using the Leap Frog method. It lets her do sections in whatever order is best for the weather and time constraints she has. She's already done a big chunk of PA and West VA and parts of VA. I'm joining her and a couple others next week to hike West VA and MD or PA. I dreamed hiking the last 2 nights. While I'm no longer doing a thru hike, I'm still going to try and complete the AT by section hiking.

Snow Shoe hike on a ski trail

2008-01-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

Randy and I got a chance to go snow shoeing yesterday. It was a perfect day for it, temps going up into the 30's and a clear blue sky. I wanted to go to a nearby tail called Stewart and Indian Lakes. It's a 4 mile round trip with the trail head at the north end of green Lake (near Canada Lake). Anyway, we couldn't find the trail head so we decided to follow a cross country ski trail made by the locals.

While we were getting our gear on, a local dog, mostly black lab mix, showed up. We tried to say hi but she just skittered away. So to our surprise, as we started up the trail, the dog followed. We didn't think she'd stay with us long so we didn't make much of an effort to make her go home. Turns out tho, she stayed with us the whole trip. I guess she wanted to go for a walk and any people would do for hiking companions.

Anyway, a short way up the trail the local path joined an offical, marked ski trail. Fine by us. We trudged on, up hill but not too bad for a little over an hour. We hadn't really reached anything and so se found a downed tree, brushed off the now and had some lunch. The lab bounced around, sticking her head into the snow to sniff out buried treasure or small rodents or something, and trotted back occasionally to check out what we were eating. I did share some of my chicken sandwich. She declined Randy's offer of blueberry cereal bar.

After lunch we went back the way we came and missed our turn off onto the local path. We ended up at the fish hatchery pond I had been meaning to get to originally as it is the starting point for the Stewart and Indian Lake trail. Oh well. Anyway, we turned around and went back about 1/4 - 1/3 mile till we found the side trail we made coming in and got back to the car about 1:30pm. The dog was staying around but we told her it was time to go home and she wandered up the road, I guess toward her house. It was fun having a dog with us again on a hike. I hope her owners weren't worried.

Emily's 1st Snowshoe Hike

2008-01-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

for some back story: I smashed the tar out of my right ring finger on Dec 30th while stacking firewood for my mom. After watching it continue to swell for an hour, I decided to go to the emergency room. Sure enough, I broke 2 pieces off of the tip. A couple days later I got into the ortho doc and they decided the 2 bits were in good enough position so that all I got for treatment is a fingertip plastic guard to keep from banging the end of my finger. So, I've been treating it gently for the last week but I haven't been out hiking since Dec 9th. I felt the need to get out. Also, Randy has been suffering thru a very painful heel problem. After seeing a podiatrist several time, the inflammation has gone but he still has some heel pain. He hasn't been hiking in months and has been missing being out too.

So, Randy thouht snowshoeing would be less stressful on his heel than regular hiking. I just want to get out, even tho I expected some trouble gripping hiking poles and, we want to get our niece, Emily, out for a winter hike. We've been nagging my brother to get Em some good boots and a pair of snowshoes. We finally won out and Saturday AM, Sheri took Emily to get some boots. We picked her up and went to Havelick's, a local snowshoe outfitter and got her a pair of snowshoes. Since it was Em's 1s snowshoe and both Randy and I were unsure of our physical capabilities, we decided to go to our local Mud Lake.

We stopped at our house to pick up our packs and to try Emily's snowshoes on in the house. We were a little dissapointed that the binding going over her instep, when let out to the max, only just allowed room for her boots. Since it did work, we packed everything up and went to the trailhead. We got there about 12:30pm and got our gear on quickly and set off up the mountain. While the hike isn't far, it's all uphill to Mud Lake. Fortunately, local snow machine riders had been thru and we were able to follow the snow machines packed trail all the way to the lake. We stopped several times to rest and I was down to long sleeve shirt and fleece vest in the 1st 15 minutes. We got to the south east end of the lake and the snow machines contintued in that direction. We wanted to get to the northern end so for the lenght of the lake, had to break new trail. Since this part was downhill, it was kind of fun. We took a break at the lake, eating some late lunch and I broke out my backpacking stove and made tea. It only took about 45 min to an hour to get back to the jeep we left at the trailhead. Always easier going downhill than up.

We stopped at the house to trasfer Em's gear to the car to take her home. Emily's heel straps on the snowshoes kept twisting right or left and caused her feet to skew sideways in the snowshoe and we were not happy with the instep strap so on the way back to Emily's, a stop was made at Havelick's. They were sorry to hear about the snow shoe problems and swapped out the pair we bought earlier for a new pair. These were tried on in the store and pronounced suitable. Emily said she had fun and it was not only her 1st snow shoe but her 1st winter hike! Yeah! Another hiking convert.

I had some discomfort with my hand. I had to hold the pole awkwardly to accomodate my broken finger and that tired my hand out by the end of the hike. Randy had some discomfort by the end of the hike, going downhill put more pressure on his heel than the uphill portion. Also, a month between hikes is too long. All the resting going up the mountain was from not being in hiking condition. It doesn't take long to get out of shape, even if I am working out on the elipse machine and lifting weights. Got to stay on the trail!

1st snowshoe of the season

2007-12-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

Today I went on a short hike to Negro Lake near Canada Lake in the Adirondacks. A great 1st snowshoe of the season. The temps were in the 20's and the snow was powder. The hike was only about a mile in but it was a great breaking in for the 1st snow shoe of the season. The Herkimer Alpiners were out and we had a group of 8. The nicest bunch you'll never meet. While the day remained overcast throuout, the snow made it very bright. Even layering, I still was wet with sweat by the time I got to the car. Still learning about removing the layers I have on I guess. The lake isn't much to speak of. We didn't get close because of the steep sides going down to the lake. From the map, it looks like an easier access from Canada Lake via canoe in the warmer months. Even so, not much to look at, just a nice snowshoe on a nice day.

Vroman's Nose

2007-11-26T10:14:00.000-07:00

I went with the Herkimer Alpiners on Sunday to a glacial mountain in Schoharie County called Vroman's Nose. The triangular shaped mountain is a result of ancient glacial activity. We don't usually hike that far south, tending to stay in the Adirondacks so this was a nice change of pace. The hike up to the top was fairly easy as the Vroman's Nose Preservation Corporation volunteers keep the trail very well maintained. We joked it was a very civilized hike, there were even some benches along the way to sit and rest on. The views from the top were fantastic. We could see the whole Schoharie Valley. The hike is also part of the Long Path, a long distance hiking trail that runs from New York City to Albany NY. A section of the Long Path is called the Long Path Northern Excursion and is an 80 mile stretch of the path in Schoharie County. Several of us thought it a good idea, especially in mud season, to hike these Northern Excursion sections. They can be done as day hikes cause the longest section is about 12.5 miles. Something to look forward to.

Cod Pond and Little Joe Bushwhack

2007-11-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

I joined a group of the Herkimer Alpiners on Sunday the 11th for a hike to Cod Pond and a bushwhack to Little Joe Lake. Little Joe is about 1/2 mile south of Cod Pond but no trail leads to it. I met the group at the intersection of Rt 30N and Rt 8E. We convoyed (4 cars full!) to the Cod Pond trailhead. There were already 2 cars there waiting for us bringing the hiker total to 13. The morning was brisk and on the drive up I saw that the quiet parts of the lakes and rivers had a skim of ice on them. However, the sun was out and the sky was a clear blue. A perfect hiking day. So we started the trek about 1030am and headed up hill. Some of our group is elderly so while we weren't going slow, we did stop for a couple of breathers on the way up. It's only about 1 mile to Cod Pond from the trail head so we could take our time and enjoy the walk thru the downed beech leaves. Once at Cod Pond we took a breather and the time to go to the shore side and take in the view. Two of our number decided to wait at Cod Pond as they didn't feel up to forcing their way through the downed trees and witch hobble. Another of the group decided that this was as far as she wanted to go. But she did invite everyone to her house after the hike. So we said goodbye to her and while she headed for the trailhead, we took our compass bearings and GPS readings and headed pretty much due south along the lenth of Cod Pond. I brought my new GPS with me. While I had waited to meet the group on the road, I set the coordinates of Little Joe Lake into the GPS unit. I wanted to see if the device would allow me to "mark" a location without actually being there. It turns out it did allow me to do that and it provided me a course to the lake from Cod Pond. Pretty cool. We had to push our way through a lot of witch hobble and over and around downed trees and branches and around big holes in the forest floor but it was still easier than when Randy and I did this hike with Kathy and Gail last April. (knee deep snow and no snow shoes!) We got to the southern end of Little Joe Lake which is a mature pine forest so the hiking there is very easy, no undergrowth at all. A very nice camping location is in place there and easy and convenient access to the lake shore is available. We ate our trail lunch there in the sunshine. The hike back seemed to take less time than the hike in and we were back at the cars by 2:15pm. All in all, a nice hike.

Big Marsh Mt

2007-11-09T06:05:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday (the 3rd) I joined my friend Kathy and the Schenectady Chapter of the ADK Club to hike Big Marsh Mt. The hike leader, Walt, likes to do bushwhacks and I've been out with him before. There were 6 of us on the hike. We met quite a few hunters also and had nice chats with them. The hike starts on old logging roads then becomes a bushwhack up the mountain. Once at the summit there really weren't any views but since the trees had dropped their leaves, we could get some peeks at the nearby Evergreen and G Lakes. It's a little over 2 miles to the summit which is 2588 feet. We got to the top about 11am so decided to hike over to the lesser peak. Big Marsh Mt has an extended peak and it was relatively easy to get over there. Once there, we sat down and ate lunch and had a nice chat with everyone. After lunch, we decided to bushwhack back to the trailhead instead of going back the way we came. That side of the mountain is pretty steep and a lot of spruce has grown up that we had to push our way thru. We got back to the cars relatively unscathed tho I did slip once coming down a steep spot and got my left foot caught in a hole between rocks. Fortunately, only a bruise on the top of my foot. A nice day out.

Loop Hike Murphy, Middle and Bennett Lakes

2007-10-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

My hiking friends Kathy and Gail wanted to do a trip on Monday the 22nd and I said YES! I haven't been out hiking all month and I was going into withdrawl. Randy is still treating his foot for bursitis issues so he stayed home. The last time I did this hike was way back when I first started hiking. Randy and I went with our dog Spot. I remember having a bit of trouble with steep parts so I was preparing myself mentally for those places in the trail.

Anyway, I met Kathy and Gail at the southern trailhead in Hope Falls NY on Creek Rd. I left my car there so we could pick it up and take Kathy and Gail back to Gail's car at the northern end of the trail on Pumpkin Hollow Rd. We parked at the northern end and were on the trail by 9:30am. We just couldn't have requested a better day. The sky was that beautiful blue we only get in October. By 15 minutes into the hike we had peeled off the fleeces and were down to shirt sleeves. By noon it was 70 degrees.

We got to the Murphy Lake outlet about 1115 and climbed up the small rock face there. This in particular was the spot that had worried me. I just stepped right up the rocks! I cannot believe how much more in shape and experienced I am now. We moved around the end of Murphy Lake, taking a minute or two to examine all the beaver signs at the end of the lake. Going around the lake we came to the swampy areas I remembered from the last time. Being so late in the year, the first two areas were easily hiked around, staying perfectly dry. The last swampy spot, a hundred or so feet from the Murphy Lake lean-to was also considerably lower. We didn't have to wade across (as Randy, Spot and I had on my first trip through here), a beaver had built a small dam and we were able to walk across fairly easily.

We stopped at the lean-to for about 45 minutes to eat lunch and enjoy the scenery. I tried out my new backpacking camera. I had to get a new one because the old one (and not that old either) just seemed to work only 50% of the time. Anyway, I saw Randy load fresh batteries in it before I packed it but the camera gave me an error message that the batteries were exhausted. The same error message with the spare batteries. AAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!! So I packed it away and promised myself to tell Randy the problem.

After lunch we packed up and headed south to Middle Lake. It's only 1/2 mile from Murphy so it didn't take long at all. At the northern end of the lake we decided to try and go around to the "back" side of the lake as we had heard through the ADK Forum hiker web site that it was very nice over there. Boy were they right. Several extremely nice camping locations with wonderful views and easy access to the lake for swimming and getting water. All of the sites were very clean with nicely constructed rock firepits. Those who know about this side of the lake have taken great care to keep it nice! Since the lake isn't very wide and we would have hiked the length of the lake anyway, it hardly took any more time to explore this side of the lake than to stay on the official marked trail. Actually, it did take a little longer because we stopped at each camp site to admire the view.

We circled around the lake and found a herd path leading back to the marked trail and headed for Bennett Lake. The trail gets steeper here and very rocky. The leaves covering the trail make the going a little treacherous. I twisted my ankle a few times between Middle Lake and the trailhead when my ankle rolled while stepping on a loose rock. We stopped to admire the view at Bennett Lake. We saw some ducks and several newts in the water. Eventually we had to move on and we got back to my car about 2:30pm.

All in all we had a great day out, did lots of chatting and best yet, found a new place to do an overnight camp out! Lucky day.

Ampersand Mt and Jay Range

2007-09-16T10:48:00.000-07:00

My hiking friend Kathy emailed me a few days ago asking if Randy and I would like to do a two day hike with her. First day, Ampersand Mt, stay overnight in a hotel and next day meet up with the Schenectady chapter of the Adirondack Mt Club (AMC) to do the Jay Range. Randy decided two mountain climbs one day after another was more than he wanted to do but I thought; what the heck.

Anyway, Friday (9/14) AM at 0630, Randy dropped me off just up the highway where we met Kathy. Kathy and I then drove north on Rt 30 to Ampersand Mt. The weather forecast was for sunny, clear weather and temps up to 80 degrees. It was overcast when we got there and only about 65 degrees. As we climbed the mountain and neared the top, the fog rolled in and the temps dropped. Nearer the top the wind was blowing hard. Reaching the top required what guide books charmingly refer to as a "little bit of a rock scramble". At this point the summit is totally fogged in and the wind is blowing at gale force. Approaching the summit (Ampersand is a bald mountain) we had no real visibility beyond a few feet and the wind was so fierce that we couldn't stand upright and the wind sucked the air right out of our mouths. We reached a point we declared was the top and immediately started back down. It took us 3 hours to reach the top with a little over 1700 feet of ascent. It only took us an hour to go back down.

On the bright side, we were way ahead of the planned schedule so when we got back to the trailhead we crossed the road and went the 1/2 mile to Ampersand Beach. Rare in the Adirondacks, the lake has a lovely sand beach, quite long. It was too cold for a dip but we could see how this would be a great place for swimming in the summer.

Then we drove to Keane where we window shopped for awhile, then checked into our hotel, The Arc Hotel. A cute little place, and very inexpensive. Not luxurious but the shower was hot and the beds were comfortable. We had dinner on Rt 9N at a nice bar/restaurant and were back in the room by 8pm. The TV only got 1 channel so we read till about 9pm and hit the sack.

In the morning (9/15, Saturday) there was free coffee in the hotel dining room, but we decided not to have breakfast there. We met the Schenectady AMC group at a local Stewart's at 7:45am and were at the Jay Range trailhead, and hiking by 8:20am. There were 3 guys and 4 women altogther including me and Kathy. Three of the others we had hiked with before. One guy, Don and one woman, Linda were new to us. Anyway, it was a great hiking group. The hike was uphill the whole way, less steep at the beginning but getting progressively steeper as we went. Jay Range is a series of mountains, starting with the Knoll, then West Knoll, West Jay, Middle Jay and East Jay, about 2200 feet of ascent. Several spots were definately a climb, very steep and a struggle for hand/foot holds. The weather was cold and we had rain at the beginning, making all the closely growing shrubbery wet, soaking us thru. At the 1st knoll (all the mountains being bald), we had great views of the surrounding Keane Valley and when mists and fogs cleared, great views of the High Peaks. Each peak we reached had better views and as the weather slowly cleared, views of the High Peaks. Also, each peak had scarier climbs. At Middle Jay, Kathy and I had reached our limits. The last semi-cliff climb did us in and we stayed at Middle Jay while the others went on to finish the range with East Jay. The wind continued to blow. Kathy's little thermometer read 40 degrees but stray raindrops were frozen so we know the wind chill was below freezing. We layered up but by the time the rest of the group got back to us after lunch, we were all starting to shiver. Time to take it back to the trailhead. As on the way up, we stopped at each peak to savor the views. By now the sun was breaking out more often and the cloud cover continued to rise. The trees on the mountain sides are starting to turn. Streaks of red sugar maple, whole swaths of yellow birch, cloud shadow moving over the mountains, and when we got to the west knoll, we got to see a dazzling and very wide rainbow, from above it! Way too cool. The hike down was steeper than I remembered going up and I could feel my thighs starting to get really tired by the time we hit the trailhead.

We were back at the cars by 3:15pm. A good hike. Kathy dropped me off at home by about 5pm. Today I'm a little stiff in the front of my thighs and back of my calves and a little wind burned but I had a great time.

Final Long Trail Journal Entries

2007-08-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

Long Trail Day 11, 8/21/07
I didn't journal last night cause there wasn't much to say. I'm up at 0530, showered and am packing up. I'll call Randy about 0700, breakfast at 0730 and probably be on the road by 0830. It's a 10 mile day today. Unless the terrain is "bad", it should be a pretty easy day.

So, OK, not an easy day. It took me 8 1/2 hours to do 10 miles. Not an auspicious start for the next few days. There are 15+ people here tonight. 11 from University of Vermont, a family of 4, 2 men and thier 2 sons fulfilling a Boy Scout camping requirement, the couple I've been hiking with all day and here is another single hiker just coming in. Several experienced hikers are telling me it's pretty rugged going north. I don't know if I can do the daily planned miles. It's worrying me.

Day 12, 8/22/07
I left the rail. I climbed two mountains this morning; Mt Carmel and Bloodroot Mtn. By 1130 I was at the Sunrise Shelter having had a nice trail, i.e., nearly level and fairly rock free. But I just couldn't face the 600 - 800 foot ascent up Mt. Horrid. So when I hit Rt 73 at about 1200, I turned left and started for Brandon Vt. After about 2 miles a nice young man, Jim, picked me up and gave me a ride into Brandon and left me at the Brandon Inn. Very nice place. My room is more like a suite. The huge bathroom has an old fashioned claw foot tub! After unpacking my pack, I drew a tub full of hot water, added bubble bath and had a wonderful soak. I got ahold of Randy about 1400 and reported my need for a pick up. He'll be here mid-morning tomorrow. My 2 remaining chores are to call the 2 hiker hostels where I have reservations, and cancel. The nearest one should have my resupply box. I'm going to arrange to drive up and pick it up after Randy fetches me in the morning.

Day 13, 8/23/07
Called all the remaining re-supply spots yesterday. My package had reached the Mountain View Inn. We'll drive up and get it. I read for awhile yesterday then about 1500 went for a walk around the village of Brandon. I had tea at a place called the Provencal. Smelled great in there and I checked out the dinner menu. I went down the street to a place called the Watershed and had a drink and checked out thier dinner menu. Then went across the street and checked out Sculley's. I decided on Sculley's for dinner cause they had pork chops. I walked to the Grand Union and bought a bottle of wine and went back to the hotel. They opened it for me and I read for awhile in my room. I made myself stay up till 9pm, finishing about a glass of wine in two hours. I still woke up at 0600. The hotel offers coffee in the morning and breakfast at 0800. Randy should be here about 0930 or 1000. This isn't the end to my trip I had hoped for but I think I had a good trip anyway.

Lesson Learned
The emotional component of the hike is critical. Physically, I felt pretty good but emotionally, the constant drain of hiking mountain after mountain was more than I wanted to handle.

Long Trail Journal

2007-08-22T03:01:00.000-07:00

[Transcriber's comments: The UPS man brought me a box containing a fresh batch of Connie's hike notes yesterday afternoon, so here begins another attempt to faithfully put down in this blog the thoughts she dashed off whilst trudging north thru Vermont. Oh, the UPS box also held a lot of trail food she'd jettisoned, a new shirt, a pair of pants, a fuel canister, dead batteries, a drinking tube, receipts for gear/meals/lodging, and other assorted doo-dads.]

8/15/07

Got up at 0630; it was nice to sleep in, especially on a nice clean bed. Sorted my gear, bagged up the stuff to be shipped home & packed up my pack. I left the door to my room open & Frank called up Good Morning. I told him I was leaving & he got my receipt for the room. I mentioned I still needed a ride from breakfast/shipping to the trailhead & he said he wouldn't be able to do that. So much for calling ahead & checking if a ride would be available. So I paid up & went a block & a half to across the street from my supper spot, an upstairs restaurant called Up For Breakfast. Small but very friendly & a surprisingly diverse menu. I had a turkey omlette called Wild Thing 'cause it is supposed to be wild turkey. I don't know if it was, but it was tasty. By 0830 I was around the corner at the UPS office. The nice lady there got my stuff boxed and posted, then let me use the phone to call a cab. I had to go thru 3 cab companies but eventually I got Joe. He showed up a few minutes later in what appeared to be his own Cadillac "De Ville" I think. Probably in his 70's but I appreciated saving 2 hrs & 5 miles of walking before even getting to the trailhead. He left me at the packing area on Rootville Rd. Now, it was bad enough yesteday, downhill with a light pack. Steep & rocky uphill with 12LBS of food's no joke but I took my time. I stopped at Prospect Rock, opposite the trail entrance & took pics of Manchester Center from high up the mountain. Too bad it was hazy. So I trudged up the trail at 1000, pretty good time up that road. The way was OK going - uphill but not horrible. Just a little rocky. I stopped for lunch at Spruce Lean-to where four guys had already sat down. One young guy SOBO on the AT, one guy NOBO on the AT, and 2 older guys SOBO on the Long Trail (LT). One of the older guys said it was his 9th time. Both the older guys were smoking! I don't know how they do it. Anyway, I took off about noon. Stopped when I saw a big marble boulder & tried to take a picture but it was overcast so I'm not sure how it will come out. Turns out I was making pretty good time 'cause I'm nearly all the way up Bromley Mt at the Bromley Shelter by 1515. If the next shelter were closer I'd have walked on. But the rest of Bromley still needs to be hiked up & then another mountain before reaching Peru Shelter 8+ miles north. Too far for 4 hours. So I'm staying here as planned. My feet are doing well. The sports tape is doing its job. My new technique of avoiding walking on rocks & roots may also be helping 'cause my feet were hardly tired after 12 miles of hiking. Of course, I may also be getting used to the hiking but it seems too soon for that. I'm glad I decided to keep backpacking. I wavered the whole 1st 5 days till yesterday morning. I would have felt so much a weak loser if I had just quit. This way I get a true taste of a long distance hike. And, WOW, there are so many long distance hikers! Right now all the talk is about Long Trail Days Aug 17 - 19. I saw a notice on a hiker board that there will be shuttles from trailheads to bring hikers to the festivities.

8/16/07

Four mountains in 12 miles! Bromley, Styles, Peru, & Baker. I couldn't take pictures at Bromley 'cause the camera was too cold. Styles & Peru had no view, but Baker! Great views but hazy. The pics may be worthless. Baker the most interesting climb. Up great slabs of marble to the top. Then down to my planned stop at Lost Pond. However - that is a tent site and at 1740 it was thundering. Turns out the Big Branch shelter was only 2 more miles so I picked up the pace & got here about 1840. The river runs right in front of the lean-to. I got water for supper and took a bath & soaked my feet. I changed the band aids over my rubbed spots & dinner is soaking. It's almost too dark to write. I had my Backpacker Scalloped Potatoes for the 2nd time. A disappointment. Not saucy enough. Tonight is Southwest Chili. I'll crumble a few crackers into it. Gotta sign off. Too dark to write.

8/17/07

The family tenting at this site (dad, mom, son, & 2 dobermans named Madison & Abigail) have given themselves trail names. The boy is Tree Frog - very appropriate for the 9-year-old. Mom is Momma Bear & dad is Oak. They plan to hike to their home in Burlington, doing 10 miles a day. I wish them luck. I'm going to try for the Minerva Hinchey Shelter today. My extra 2 miles puts me in a position to push farther today. Also, per the guidebook, the terrain looks to be fairly easy. If it isn't, I'll just stop at Greenwall as planned.

I didn't stop at Greenwall, pushed up Bear Mtn & got to the Minerva Hinchey Shelter at 1700. I see from the shelter log that Unicycle Pirate came thru earlier so he's now way ahead. I saw only a few people on the trail today. A couple guys passed me going north. A couple more going south. I saw Torpedo just as I was starting up Bear Mtn, coming down. She got a ride to Rutland & is slack packing south for 20 miles. Everyone seems to be going to the Long Trail Festival. I took a pic or 2 of the shelter and tried to take a pic of the spring - tonight's water source. Batteries were dead so I swapped them out. They worked OK. I guess I'll buy more at the next stop & send the old ones back to Randy. So now it's after 6PM & no one here but me Looks like I have the shelter to myself.

8/18/07

Five guys arrived last night. Two about 8PM & three more about 10PM. So I didn't have the shelter to myself after all. This morning is cold & windy. Overcast, too. It rained a little last night. Think I'll put my pant legs on today.

A "bad" day. My bladder tube lost its "O" rings & when I snapped it into the bottle it leaked. I spent 45 minutes trying to get duct tape to work but no luck. I put the bladder in its sleeve & packed up. I finally got on the trail at 0830. There was an immediate ridge to climb & my calves are cramping. I go down the other side toward Clarendon Gorge & the trail is a big smooth set of rocks. Of course I slip & fall on my butt & pack with my right foot twisted under me. I yelled in pain & said bad words. I rested a few minutes & let the throbbing stop. I stood up & no pain so I lucked out. I was sure it was twisted. So now I go even more carefully till I get down the gorge. Very similar to Auger Falls. Then I cross a road and slant up what the guidebook so charmingly calls "...a rock-filled ravine." That 1/2 mile took me an hour of hard climbing. It was 1130 before I got to the Clarendon Shelter where I had lunch. It was obvious I was not going to get to Cooper Lodge today. So I plodded on - took a break at 1400. Got to the Gov. Clement Shelter about 1700. A guy (Ted) and his stepson Richard are already here. This is obviously a party spot. Shelter in bad shape - no table of any sort, part of the sleeping platform is gone. It does have a nice water source.

8/19/07

3 yokels dropped by at 0020 last night in a big pickup. Dropped a lot of trash in the fire ring, set it on fire and whooped it up for an hour. Raked the copper wire out of the fire - to recover for $ I guess. Peed all around the site and drank beer. They knew we were here, they just went about their business without a care. Left about 0130 with the fire still blazing. It's still burning this morning. Primarily an old rug. So much for me not burning plastic or junk. Looks like a fair day. I'm going for Churchill Scott Shelter about 9 miles north. My right leg seems to have a permanent cramp behind the knee & today is mostly uphill. Oh, well.

Sure enough - all uphill till noon when I got to near the top of Killington & had lunch at the Cooper Lodge Shelter. I tried to take a pic but the camera & batteries were too cold. I put the batteries in my pocket for 20 minutes - still nada. Oh, well. After Cooper it's all downhill & I reached the Chruchhill Shelter at 3PM. I decided to press on since it was only 2 miles to Rt 4 & The Inn at the Long Trail. I met a nice lady and her German Sheppard. They walked down with me & gave me a ride 1 mile uphill to the Inn. I was inside getting a room & as I came out she was coming in. If I wasn't able to get a room she was going to offer to have me stay at her place. How nice! Anyway - I have a room for 2 days. Tomorrow will be a zero day. I need to give my blisters & raw spots time to heal. I can bus into Rutland and UPS a box home, stop at Wal-Mart & the gear store. I've lost enough weight that my pants are drooping & causing some serious chafing. Owww!

8/20/07

I'm taking a zero day. It's totally unplanned but 3 good hiking days put me ahead of schedule. My left foot has a huge blister at the end of the baby toe. Blister on outside of heel & "boot rub" on the rest of the heel. A day out of boots should help nicely. I woke up at 0600 as usual. Got up & 'cause breakfast isn't till 0730, spent the time sorting my food. Had way too much last section. Also did a good hot water & soap wash of pot, cup & spoon. After breakfast I'll see about the bus schedule into town, not sure what town it is. I'll go to gear store 1st, then shipping. I had put asprin in my box. So I think only gauze pads are needed. A drug store or a Wal-Mart will do if they're available. I've also checked my map & contour lines against my hiking plan. It all still looks do-able. I have a 14-mile day in there, the day before I come out for resupply at Appalachian Gap. Hope it's not a lot of "...rock-filled ravine" -type climbing. I leave the AT behind at this point. There'll be a lot fewer hikers on the trail after this.

Lessons Learned this section:

1. Take care of your feet! Say it 3 times. My most emotionally down days were the days my feet hurt the most. Say it again 3 times!

2. Lighten the load. I was carrying too much. In a mountainous environment, it's a big energy drain.

3. Carry some repair materials. If I had some very lightweight spare parts for my water bottle I wouldn't have been so inconvenienced.

Long Trail (Vermont) Journal

2007-08-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

As transcribed by Connie's husband, who received her trail notes via UPS delivery man this morning at 1155hrs.

8/10/07 Long Trail Day 1

Randy & I left home at 0730. I forgot to weigh my pack but it seems to still be in the 35 lb range. It's rainy today - hope not an inauspicious start to the trip. Traffic is really slow & I mess up the directions in Troy so by the time we get to Greylock Community Club parking - Jim, my former co-worker, has left. He was there to see me off since he can't hike with me. So Randy & I drive the block to the stairway over the river & he takes my pic & sees me off. It's still raining so I've got rainjacket & pants on. I take it slow & easy leaving R about 1030. I pass a man & woman about 1/2 hr on the trail southbound. At 1140 I stop for lunch. It's a good thing 'cause just after lunch is a big, steep, boulder-strewn rock face to climb. After several false starts, I make it to the top of an unnamed mtn. No view, it's too overgrown. Just beyond, however, is Eph's Lookout where a nice view & cool breeze can be had. Not long after, I meet a young man going south & then I'm at the Mass-Vt line. I sign the register & a nice older man, who is section hiking the AT Southbound (SOBO), took my pic with my camera. Going on my way at 1350, I meet a young man & woman. They stopped to cook lunch, going northbound. Turns out we meet up again. Anyway, I trudge on & over some ridges & past a couple muddy spots I get to my shelter. The young man had passed me earlier & just before the shelter he was waiting for his friend. By the time I got back to the shelter from checking out the privy & water supply, they had arrived. They decided to set up their tent so I had the shelter to myself. I unpack & I realize I'd forgotten both my book and my fleece. Again with the fleece! Good thing my head's attached. It's a little cool tonight but I can do as I did on the NPT. Just wrap shoulders in my bag liner & sit in my sleeping bag. I'll rectify both issues in Manchester Center. The sun started peeking out about 1730, about the time I started to eat. My dehydrated meal (Pumpkin Spaghetti) rehydrated well. Yum! Since I've nothing to read, I'll sit up as long as I can but it will be an early night. About 1830 Craig & his Dad, Steve, arrived. Nice people. Steve is sleeping in a hammock...Craig in the lean-to. Craig lives in Texas & his dad runs a country store in Montana. They used to live here in Bennington & are having a hiking holiday.

8/11/07 Day 2

A hiker came in about 2130 last night. We had all crashed so he had to camp in the dark. He left at 0800. I met so many people today I can't remember. I made it to Congdon Shelter in good time & had lunch at 1240. I spent an hour there with shoes & sox off to let feet dry. I left for the last 5 miles at 1340. It went OK till Harmon Hill. Straight down. The 1.6 miles took me 2 hours. I was shaking with fatigue at the bottom where I rested 15 minutes. I swear if someone in the parking lot had asked if I wanted a ride to Bennington I would have taken it. The last 1.6 miles was like the Harmon Hill except uphill. I questioned my sanity. I definitley was not having fun. If the next 2 days are like this, I'll have to stop. I was 2 hours over my trip time estimate. Not a crisis but on a 14-15 mile day - not good. Anyway, I made the Melville N??? shelter about 1830. Four people already there with 2 camping. Just after I came in & claimed a bunk - 3 more came in & took the top bunks. Full house. Since there was an ATV rally last night near the last shelter all night, I'll sleep pretty good tonight.

[Transcriber's comments: This is a lot of damn typin', podna. And if you think it's easy to read her chicken scratchin', you got another think comin'. That woman is gonna pay, big time, if she ever makes it back home.]

8/12/07 Day 3

Slept pretty good last night. Got up at 6AM & had tea & cereal. I was the last one to leave camp at 0800. Saw 2 moose droppings this afternoon. Otherwise, only a couple of mountain climbs. Still by the time I got to Kid Gore Shelter my feet were very rock weary. The trail is nothing but rocks and roots. When I got to the campsite I wanted it was closed. The neighboring site - Kid Gore, was full of a wilderness teen group. The 2 guys I have been hiking with came right behind me. So the group set up their tents and we got half the shelter bunks. That was nice of them. Tomorrow is a 15 mile day over what looks like difficult & steep terrain. Craig (from the 1st night) wants to do 20 so he can get to his designated exit point on Wednesday (Danbury, VT). John (from last night) is going to the site with me. Tomorrow is my make-or-break decision on continuing this trip.

8/13/07 Day 4

Rain last night about 0430. Craig, trying out his dad's hammock, came into the shelter. The kids & Craig were up at 0530. I got up at 0545 because I wanted an early start. I skipped tea & got ready & was on the trail by 0730. John, trail name Budman, and I flip-flopped back & forth leading each other. Turned out we met up again at 1230 at a nice stream where we had lunch. Not knowing how hot or arduous the climb up Stratton Mtn would be, we refilled our water bladders. I'm glad 'cause once at Stratton Pond Shelter the water source is a slow spring, 1/2 mile round trip from the shelter. I had a liter and a half left so I'll get water in the morning. The climb up Stratton was not as bad as we had anticipated. We climbed the fire tower and took some pics. 3.2 miles and 2 hrs later, we are at the shelter. Again, feet very rock weary & my left heel skin is wearing off. The AT hikers here say duct tape instead of band-aids. I've noticed over the last 4 days lots of marble & quartz rocks & boulders in the trail. Many times it looks like ice, left over from winter. It started raining as we were packing up at lunch & so all my clothing is wet. I'm getting really used to putting on cold, wet clothes.

8/14/07 Day 5

The day started well but cold. I got up about 0645 knowing I was going into town. Tried to take a pic of the shelter - a grand one - but the camera wouldn't work. I chatted with the other hikers and ate brekkies and by the time the others had left I was packing & was gone by 0900. I made the 5 miles to Rootville Rd by noon. From there to Rt 11/30 is about 2.5 miles. No trail angels to offer a ride. Had to ask which way to Manchester Center 'cause there aren't any signs. No angels to give me a ride to town. I stopped at Susie's Cafe at the edge of town at 1PM & had a burger - no fries. Walked the 5+ more blocks to arrive at lodging at about 1420. No one home. Workmen in the back said they'd be right back. By 1515 I asked workmen who seemed to be friends if the owners were coming back. Guy let's me in and shows me my room, which is OK but no phone, no door lock & shared bath. I shower & dress in town clothes & head to center again. Get fleece, get phone call to Randy & get some lunch & heel 1st Aid supplies. Walk back to Suttons. Finally meet woman - I forget her name. Ask for washer & dryer. She directs me to laundromat in area I just came from. Back I trudge. 7PM I get back & meet Frank. Ask if there's breakfast - Nope. Ask for ride to Post Office & trailhead - Nope. Nicely directs me to eateries where I might catch a ride to trailhead in the morning. No good - I need to send a box! Not helpful. 1930 now and I still have to walk to supper. Not much of a rest day for my feet. Well, a modicum of good news and a new plan. I checked out Frank's suggestion for breakfast, a cafe called Up For Breakfast. They open early. The shiping center just around the corner opens at 0830. So, go to cafe about 0800 see if I can hook a ride that will wait for me to UPS a package. Then head for trailhead. If no free ride developes, get shipping store to call a cab. Finished checking out the Main Street shop possibilities for the morning, saw a little restaurant offering Lamb Tangine. Chucked my steak house plan (3 more blocks) & ate at the Harvest Grille. The Lamb Tangine was perfect. A taste trip back to Pakistan. Back to the room by 9PM. 2 glasses of Chardonnay have put me out.

Lessons Learned this section:

1. No downhill goes unpunished - meaning, the downhill is balanced by an equally challenging uphill next.
2. Sport tape in med kit for rubbed-raw places like toes & heels.
3. Take the climbing as slow at the bottom of the grade as you would be going at the top. It's not a race, don't arrive at the top looking like a heart attack about to happen.

Test-O-Blog

2007-08-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

Thursday, August 16

gotta transcribe the spouse's Long Trail notes into this blog and I've not blogged before, so now I'm running a few random tester words to see iffin I can indeed put 'em in and then view a proper result.